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Apartments for workers to be ready in January
In its aim to provide affordable housing for workers, the government, together with the Jakarta administration, has started the construction of low-cost apartments in the vicinity of the industrial zone in Rawa Bebek, East Jakarta
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n its aim to provide affordable housing for workers, the government, together with the Jakarta administration, has started the construction of low-cost apartments in the vicinity of the industrial zone in Rawa Bebek, East Jakarta.
Governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo on Tuesday attended the ceremony of the low-cost apartments, along with Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa, Public Housing Minister Djan Faridz and Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar.
The central government set aside Rp 98 billion (US$9.89 million) to build six apartment buildings for workers in Rawa Bebek, while the Jakarta administration provided the 17-hectare plot of land.
Djan said the apartments, expected to be ready by January, would comprise six buildings and shelter upto 6,000 workers.
'The apartments are built for workers from the industrial sector, working near the Rawa Bebek area. Each unit can be inhabited by four workers,' Djan told reporters after the ceremony, adding that 'families won't be allowed to live there so they should just stay in their home villages. The workers will not spend too much on their families' living costs in the capital.'
'The apartment building will be ready for workers by January,' he said.
According to Djan, the central government would hand over the apartments as well as their management to the city administration.
'The rent rates will be determined by Pak Jokowi later, but the central government expected that it won't be more than Rp 50,000 per person per month,' he said.
Jokowi said the city administration would establish a work unit to oversee the apartments under the Jakarta Housing and Administration Building.
'We will start drafting the list of workers eligible to rent the apartments so by the time the construction finishes in December, we will already have the names of the dwellers,' he said.
City Housing Agency head Yonathan Pasodung said his office would work together with the City Manpower Agency and the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry to determine the criteria of eligible tenants and rent.
According to the Central Statistics Agency, of 40 million workers across Indonesia in 2012, 2.2 million were working in Jakarta, with 1.6 million in Bogor, Depok and Bekasi ' all in West Java ' earning an average wage of Rp 1.1 million per month. Each worker spent an average of Rp 300,000 per month on rent and Rp 500,000 per month on transportation.
The minimum wage in the capital was set at Rp 2.2 million per month.
The central government plans to build 35 low-cost apartment buildings for workers across Indonesia this year.
