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n a bid to provide quality living to industrial workers, the Jakarta administration is planning to build thousands of units of low-cost apartments around industrial areas.

The plan relates to workers'€™ demands for a 68 percent wage raise by next year, on the basis that living expenses had increased as a consequence of the July fuel price increase.

Deputy Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama said at City Hall on Wednesday that the administration was currently preparing a 400-hectare plot of land near the National Business Belt (KBN) in Cakung, North Jakarta, for the purpose.

The workers, he said, would only have to pay low utility fees.

The city administration is planning to construct 300 low-cost apartment complexes by next year, or around 50,000 units, for low-income residents in other parts of the city.

Ahok said the apartments would save the workers'€™ time and transportation expenses in reaching work.

'€œIt'€™s so they can have a decent living, even on the minimum wage,'€ he said.

The deputy governor acknowledged the current provincial minimum wage of Rp 2.2 million (US$196) did not meet standard living costs in Jakarta, which he said amounted to Rp 4 million, yet added workers must also consider the companies'€™ perspective.

The workers said they spent over 30 percent of their salary on rent and transportation costs and demanded a raise to Rp 3.7 million.

The city administration is pessimistic it can accommodate the workers'€™ demand, given the country is in the throes of an economic slowdown.

'€œThe administration is trying social engineering. People are expected to enjoy a good quality of life with their families and work happily as well,'€ Ahok explained.

'€œMeanwhile, their kids can enjoy free education and healthcare too,'€ he added.

The administration has provided the Jakarta Smart Card and Jakarta Health Card for low-income residents so they can access subsidized education and healthcare.

It is also cooperating with the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry to build a low-cost worker hospital in the industrial zone.

The hospital, which is built by state-owned developer PT Nindya Karya, would have 168 rooms. Pertamedika, a subsidiary of state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina, will operate the hospital.

Media reports said construction cost Rp 110 billion, including Rp 40 billion for medical equipment and Rp 5 billion for ambulances.

Ahok, however, suggested factories that could not meet the minimum wage should move their locations to other cities that had relatively lower labor costs.

'€œThey can move to Semarang [Central Java], East Java, or Sragen [Central Java], which is cheaper in terms of labor costs,'€ he said. '€œMeanwhile, the administration can takeover their land and turn it into new working space.'€

Around 30,000 workers are planning to stage a protest in front of the Presidential Palace on Thursday, in a bid to annul a Presidential Instruction (Inpres) that limits wage increases at an inflationary rate plus 10 percent.