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New capital city development requires 300,000 construction workers
Bappenas fears construction companies will overuse workers from other provinces and leave locals behind.
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An aerial view of Penajam district, North Penajam Paser regency, East Kalimantan, where the new capital city will be built. (JP/Gede Dharma)
T
he National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) has foreseen a huge shortage in construction workers for the development of infrastructure, such as roads and office buildings, in the new capital in North Penajam Paser regency, East Kalimantan .
The agency's deputy of workforce and population, Pungky Sumadi, estimates that the development of the new capital will require at least 300,000 workers, while the number of registered construction workers in the province totaled 101,671 people.
“We will prioritize locals for construction jobs,” he said during the seventh national dialogue on capital relocation at the University of Indonesia in Depok, West Java, on Tuesday.
The construction sector workforce is also growing at a sluggish rate in the province. Since 2015, it has recorded 16,099 additional construction workers, according to Bappenas.
Pungky, however, told The Jakarta Post that the agency’s main concern was not the shortage of workers but the fear that companies would overuse workers from other provinces and leave locals behind.
“I’m not concerned about the 200,000 construction worker shortage because construction companies could easily hire people from other islands. I’m more concerned about whether locals will be given opportunities,” he said.
East Kalimantan’s native population, comprising the Dayak, Paser and Kutai tribes, account for 17 percent of the population and earns a lower income than the migrant population, Bappenas data shows.
