Tangerang gets tough on job seekers

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 11/05/2007 5:06 PM  |  Jakarta

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Finding a job in growing industrial Tangerang regency turned out to be hard for Darmadji, a high school graduate from Sidoarjo, East Java.

It was his second attempt after last year, when he decided to return home out of fears he would be arrested as an illegal alien.

""I have asked my elder brother, who is already a permanent resident, to sponsor me to get an ID card. So this time I'm not afraid of the population crackdown because now I have the required documents,"" the 22-year-old told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Not wanting to waste any time, he had applied to 19 factories within two weeks of arriving in Tangerang, along with thousands of other jobless migrants, who annually stream into the city after Idul Fitri holiday end.

He said he had gone back and forth between the local police station, the manpower agency, subdistrict administration office and community health centers to arrange for the documents required to apply for a job at the factories, such as a police criminal record check, a health certificate and a job seeker registration card.

""I could not rely on my brother forever,"" he said, adding that he is temporarily living in his brother's home in the Kelapa Dua housing area.

Data at the regency and municipal manpower agencies showed the number of job seekers increased from 14,000 to 24,000 right after Idul Fitri.

""Only 10 percent of the total figure are residents of Tangerang ... the rest are from out of town,"" said Adang Turwana, head of the municipal manpower agency.

""That is the main reason why the administration holds ID checks after the Idul Fitri holiday ... those found without working skills or IDs issued by the Tangerang administration will be returned to their respective home towns.""

Turwana said it would be difficult for newcomers to compete with local job seekers because industrial firms in Tangerang prioritize permanent residents for recruitment.

""Don't ever come to Tangerang to look for job without a specific skill,"" he said, adding the population of both the regency and municipality were more than 5 million with as many as 6,281 industrial firms currently employing 680,000 workers.

""It means that only one out of every seven Tangerang residents can work in the formal sector and the rest work in the informal sector,"" Turmawa said.

The municipality's statistics body head, Achmad Kosasih, said the tough policy was implemented to deter an influx of job seekers from other regions.

""We even restrict job seekers with skills from staying if they did not find a job in three months,"" he said.

Under the policy, skilled job seekers must put up some money as collateral when they apply for a temporary stay permit at every subdistrict administration office.

""If they don't get a job, we will return their money and force them to leave town,"" Kosasih said.

Tangerang Mayor Wahidin Halim has asked his office to renew the area's demographic data.

""This is very important to do because only from accurate data can we study the problems emerging due to newcomers,"" he said.

Tangerang regency manpower agency head Hasdanil said the number of job seekers in the regency also increased significantly after Idul Fitri.

""But it's difficult to find the accurate figure because not all of them register with the agency,"" he said.

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