Protestors brought business to a halt in Cikarang, Bekasi, on Friday as demonstrators demanded the passage of a bill that would create a social security agency.

Motorists sat in a 10-kilometer queue – from the Cikarang toll gate to West Bekasi – as traffic came to a standstill. Protestors gathered outside the industrial complexes of the Lippo Group, Delta Silicon, Jababeka and the East Jakarta Industrial Park in support of a bill authorizing a state-run oversight body.

The legislation would create a state agency to oversee a combined social security system. The 2004 Law on the National Security System (SJSN) would combine the state's insurance plans, pension fun and national health insurance into a single entity.

But the creation of a state-run agency has been in limbo after ministers failed to show to House of Representative hearings on the proposed bill.

Protestor urged lawmakers to pass the measure before a July 15 deadline. "This demonstration has been held to demand Mr. Yudhoyono as President of Indonesia and the House of Representatives to work as quickly as possible into passing the BPJS bill," said Said Iqbal of the Social Security Action Committee.

"Too many people are falling victim to the fact that we do not have a social security bill. The President has a responsibility toward us, because social security is the constitutional right of all Indonesians.

"This bill must be passed by July 15. If this deadline is not met, we believe we will then have to wait for a new administration to come in before the bill can be deliberated again, and they might not consider it a priority."

Lawmaker Surya Chandra Suropaty, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said in May that the way things were going, chances of this bill passing on time were slim.

"It seems like there will be another deadlock because the government and DPR still cannot agree," Surya said. "We are going to have to fight like hell if we want this bill to be concluded by July 15."

Surya, who is on the special committee for the bill, criticized the government for being uncooperative during the discussion with the House. The argument centered on how the bill would be funded, he said.

If the bill isn't passed by the deadline, talk of having a similar bill would have to wait at least two years, Surya said. (Antara, JG)