Bosses and luxury cars greet homebound maids<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of luxurious cars were spotted near
\nPulogadung bus terminal in East Jakarta yesterday as the owners
\nwaited to pick up their relatives and, just as importantly, their
\nservants.<\/p>\n
The cars, ranging from Kijangs to Mercedes Benz, were parked
\nbumper to bumper on a small plot near the terminal while the
\nowners waited impatiently under the blazing sun.<\/p>\n
Not all holidaymakers arrived weighed down by recession-
\ninduced gloom. Sari, a housemaid who works on Jl. Bangka, South
\nJakarta, enjoyed the melee at the terminal on her return after
\nher Idul Fitri holiday.<\/p>\n
\"For the past two years, my employers have picked me up after
\nI've spent my Idul Fitri holiday back home in Pacitan, East
\nJava,\" the 21-year-old girl with thick make-up told The Jakarta
\nPost.<\/p>\n
Her employers turned out to be the owners of a new silver E-
\nclass Mercedes.<\/p>\n
Sari said she was picked up in such style because the family
\nfor whom she had worked for five years was fond of her and she
\nfelt comfortable with them, too.<\/p>\n
\"My employers are very kind to me ... Even though they say we
\nare in a terrible economic crisis, they haven't cut my allowance.
\nI'm glad they pick me up, so I don't have to struggle on public
\nbuses. I'm so tired ... it's nice to get into a car with full air
\nconditioning.\"<\/p>\n
Another maid, 50-year-old Sarinem, said this was the first
\ntime her employer had picked her up at Pulogadung.<\/p>\n
\"I'm old. I'm afraid of getting lost. So I asked my employer
\nto pick me up,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Djoko, a 24-year-old gardener who works in Rawamangun, East
\nJakarta, said that his employer met him because he had brought
\ntwo of his sisters to the capital to work at his employer's
\nhouse.<\/p>\n
\"Usually I go back to Rawamangun myself ... but this time,
\nbecause I am bringing two companions, my employers thought it
\nsafer to pick us up,\" the man said while getting into a red Great
\nCorolla.<\/p>\n
The post-Idul Fitri holiday influx is expected to peak Friday
\nbut 170,000 residents were expected to flood back into the
\ncapital yesterday.<\/p>\n
At the Pulogadung terminal, 60,000 people were projected to
\nenter the city aboard 3,224 buses and another 37,000 passengers
\nwere to disembark at Kampung Rambutan Bus Terminal, also in East
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
But not all the passengers were so happy. Thirty people were
\nrounded up yesterday in a City Public Order Office operation
\ndesigned to prevent unskilled workers from entering Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The public order office has pledged to continue the operation
\nin cooperation with other related parties, such as the City
\nPopulation Agency, the City Social Services Agency, the Jakarta
\nPolice and the city's five mayoralties.<\/p>\n
Senior City Public Order Office official Toha Reno said: \"This
\nyear's operation is a bit special because it concerns national
\nsecurity. Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia ... therefore
\nkeeping stability here is very important because now we are
\nswamped with problems.<\/p>\n
\"Besides the monetary woes, we have to contend with next
\nmonth's general session of the People's Consultative Assembly,
\nwhich is vital to this country's continued development. The last
\nthing we need is for unemployed newcomers to flood the city,\" .<\/p>\n
In a related development, the Central Jakarta mayoralty is to
\nimplement Operation Yustisi aimed at identifying people without
\nproper identification cards next week.<\/p>\n
Mayor Andi Subur Abdullah said yesterday that during the
\noperation, unskilled residents without proper identification
\ncards would be forced to go back to their hometowns.<\/p>\n
\"We will also force people with proper identification cards
\nbut have no guarantee of getting jobs here to go back to their
\nhometowns,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The mayor said the operation would be implemented within two
\nweeks in Menteng and other crowded districts, including Sawah
\nBesar, Johar Baru and Rawasari.<\/p>\n
South Jakarta Mayor Pardjoko said his mayoralty planned to
\nstage such an operation but had not yet determined the exact
\ntime.<\/p>\n
Pardjoko said that he would wait until a meeting with the city
\nadministration to decide the details.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot just force people to return to their hometowns
\nbecause we need to identify them so that we won't punish the
\nwrong people,\" he said. (edt\/ind)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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