Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Former Vice President M. Jusuf Kalla is of the view the four social security management companies now existing in the country should not be merged because they already had their own clientele and specific characteristics.

Chairman of the Indonesian Social Security Association (AJSI) Hotbonar Sinaga said , Kalla had expressed his view at a meeting with an AJSI delegation where developments around the Social Security Management Agency (RUU BPJS) Bill were discussed here on Saturday.

The RUU BPJS is still under deliberations between the government and the House of Representatives (DPR)`s working committee (Panja). The House and the government had decided to extend the time-line of the RUU BPJS deliberations until the House`s next sitting.

The RUU BPJS deliberations had to be extended over the issue on the merger of four state-owned companies engaged in social security management.

The House of Representatives (DPR) and the government were not able to finish deliberating it in the current House sitting due to opposition to a clause in the bill that suggested the transformation into BPJS of four state-owned firms (SOE)s that have so far been providing social insurance services.

The four companies are Jamsostek (for workers), Taspen (civil servants), Asabri (servicemen) and Askes (health insurance for civil servants). The opposition reportedly came to surface in recent rallies organized by a handful of the elite circles of the four state-owned firms` workers` unions.

Hotbonar said he had information that a number of factions in the House had also met with Kalla to ask about the same thing.

"Kalla also told them that the four SOEs should not be merged," he said.
(Uu.A014/HAJM/H-YH)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011