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Committee told to revise price surveys, method
Acting governor Basuki âAhokâ Tjahaja Purnama has told the Jakarta wage committee to revise the index price surveys used to determine the basic cost of living (KHL)
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cting governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama has told the Jakarta wage committee to revise the index price surveys used to determine the basic cost of living (KHL).
The KHL is the basis used to set the new minimum wage annually.
'We have yet to talk about the minimum wage. We just talked about the survey method. For example, it makes sense if one only drinks 3 liters of water [per day] and uses 2 cubic meters of water to bathe, for example,' Ahok said after a meeting with representatives of workers unions.
He also encouraged the wage committee to revise the survey method before setting the new minimum wage, scheduled for next week.
According to Ahok, a fair method would result in a fair figure.
'It's not about increasing by 30 percent [without acceptable reason]. If the improved method says the minimum wage should be set at Rp 3 million [US$249], then Rp 3 million it is. But if the survey says Rp 2.4 million or Rp 2.5 million, then that's that,' he said.
Muhammad Toha, a union representative, said that among the components that would be reviewed were drinking water, flour, milk and housing rent.
'The governor agreed that the amount of money to buy drinking water, which was set at Rp 9,000, should be reviewed. He agreed that the standard should be equal to that of bottled water. Another component was flour, considered a carbohydrate,' Toha told reporters.
He said the meeting also agreed to review transportation and room rent.
'We surveyed places near 10 markets. Take Blok A, South Jakarta, where the rent of a room can accommodate 60 components of the
basic cost of living. This was around Rp 800,000,' he said.
Union representatives, however, failed to persuade Ahok to review other components that they deemed unsatisfactory.
Confederation of Indonesian Workers Unions (KSPI) secretary-general M. Rusdi said Ahok had not agreed to review the fruit component.
'We weren't satisfied with the fruit component because they included different types of fruits and with an average price, so the result was pretty low,' he said. 'But Ahok didn't agree to review it.'
' JP/Sita W. Dewi
