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Jakarta admin wants fewer unskilled newcomers
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Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat makes a statement for the media on the sidelines of an Idul Fitri open house he hosted at City Hall on June 25. (JP/Callista Anggun Wijaya)
T
he Jakarta administration wishes to see a smaller inflow of unskilled newcomers from other regions after the Idul Fitri holidays end, Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat has said, citing overpopulation as one of the reasons.
“People are welcome here, but [they should] have skills so that they will not be unemployed. Those without skills will end up working in the informal sector,” he said after holding an Idul Fitri celebration at City Hall on Sunday.
Year after year, homegoing travelers traditionally return to Jakarta after the annual exodus with relatives or friends who want to try their luck in the capitol.
Jakarta is currently inhabited by 10.2 million people, whereas it is ideally inhabited by 7.5 million only. Djarot said an average of 100,000 newcomers have come to Jakarta every year.
"In the afternoon, there are 14.5 million people in the city,” Djarot said, taking into account commuter workers from other areas as well.
During his term, former governor Ali Sadikin required the newcomers to provide a certain amount of money as a guarantee they could find a job in the city, Djarot said.
He, however, was quick to add that he would not copy that policy.
The city administration, through the Population and Civil Registration Agency (Dukcapil), is set to monitor the newcomers by establishing communications with neighborhood and community units.
Meanwhile, data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reveals that Jakarta had an unemployment rate of 5.4 percent in February, the 12th-highest among all provinces. (tas)
