Unemployed people flock to Surabaya

Indra Harsaputra ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Surabaya   |  Mon, 10/06/2008 9:57 AM  |  East Java

Thousands of jobless people from rural areas in the province are in transit to Surabaya to seek employment following the Idul Fitri holiday despite an anti-migration crackdown launched by city authorities.

Jumaadi, a 27-year-old resident of Nganjuk, said he was confident he would find employment in Surabaya, although he said he had no skills and that he had only completed elementary schooling.

He said he had entered the city with two other residents of his village after being arrested in Jakarta for having no identification or proof of relatives living in the capital.

"In our home village, we have no jobs nor farmland to manage. We are trying our luck in the city in the hope that the many development projects here will want to recruit us so that we can survive this time of economic difficulties," he told The Jakarta Post after getting out of a bus at Bungurasih bus terminal in the city Saturday.

Jumaddi said that before he had been arrested, he had been employed for two weeks in Jakarta in a construction project in Tanjungpriok with a daily income of Rp 20,000.

He said he had no relatives or friends to stay with in the city.

Foundations that specialize in training house maids and construction workers typically attract thousands of jobless people during the period.

Ismanu, head of the population and civil registration service, said Sunday that up to 45,500 villagers were expected to migrate to the city to seek employment before 2009.

As a result, the city's population is estimated to increase by 1.62 percent to more than 2.8 million by the end of the this year.

He said the city administration would conduct a raid to crack down on illegal migrants in a bid to curb unemployment in the city.

"The city is in need of job seekers who possess the required documents and skills to work on development projects so that the city may benefit economically and so that crime may be reduced," he said.

Head of the local social affairs office M. Munif said migrants that did not posses relevant documentation would be expelled from the city as the shelters in the city that house illegal residents were all full.

"Before the Idul Fitri holiday, the shelter housed more than 660 street children and jobless people and now the shelter's capacity has been exceeded," he said.

Surabaya Mayor Bambang Dwi Hartono said the city's residents were also responsible for combating crime and unemployment, and he called on them not to bring back unskilled workers from their home villages in the province.

"Residents should learn to be more aware of illegal migrants and unskilled ones in order to help reduce the unemployment rate and crime in the city," he said.

Chief counselor Baktiono called on the city's authorities to coordinate with local administrations in the province to prevent unwanted urbanization.

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