Here come the migrants<\/p>\n
In the wake of Idul Fitri, officials at the Jakarta city
\nadministration are busy counting the newcomers coming into the
\ncapital along with the millions of people returning from their
\nhometowns where they celebrated the Moslem post-fasting holiday
\nwith relatives. This has become no more than a routine post-
\nholiday task because the influx of unskilled job seekers has
\nbecome as much of a tradition as the mudik, or holiday trip home.<\/p>\n
This year the municipal statistics office expects 330,000 of
\nthese migrants hoping for a better life in Jakarta. The
\nprediction is based on the average number of newcomers arriving
\nin the past, which has generally equaled 11 percent of the total
\nnumber of Jakartans who left the city before Idul Fitri.<\/p>\n
Last year, 314,900 newcomers arrived here, or 10.52 percent of
\nthe 2.9 million people who left Jakarta for the holiday.<\/p>\n
Jakarta, which is already hard pressed to accommodate its
\nexisting population of some 15 million, may find it difficult,
\nindeed, to cope with an additional 330,000, or possibly more,
\nnewcomers.<\/p>\n
For decades, the capital's population headaches have be
\nexacerbated by the ever increasing number of migrants who flood
\ninto the city and illegally occupy state land, erecting shanties
\nalmost anywhere they can find an empty lot.<\/p>\n
These migrants present a security problem, as well as economic
\nand infrastructure difficulties, to the city because, despite the
\nhopes and dreams of the rural poor, it is very difficult for
\nunskilled people to get jobs in a metropolis where tens of
\nthousands of more educated people enter the job market every
\nyear.<\/p>\n
The unwary newcomers are lured into the winding alleyways of
\nthe burgeoning slums by the semblance of wealth eagerly displayed
\nby holidayers intent on impressing their rural relatives with
\ntheir success in the capital. A lump sum of even Rp 100,000,
\ncarefully scrounged over the period of a year by a servant or a
\nstreet vendor in the capital, can seem like a fortune to a poorly
\neducated resident of a poverty stricken village. This is not to
\nmention the other items like radios, tape players and any number
\nof gadgets that the travelers take home as proof of their
\naffluence. The images of bright lights and well off people in
\nbeautiful clothes, spending their money in fancy restaurants,
\nbroadcast on television only strengthen the impression.<\/p>\n
This apparent proof that the capital is the land of
\nopportunity far outweighs the attempts of the government to
\nconvince people otherwise. Even the Jakarta administration's
\nhard-hitting information drive, in cooperation with the West,
\nCentral, East Java and South Sumatra provinces, describing the
\nharsh conditions and horrible facts of living in the capital, can
\ndo little to curb the influx.<\/p>\n
Even Jakarta Governor Surjadi Soedirja's order last year to
\nall municipal officials to make efforts to detect the emergence
\nof any new slum pockets so that they could be wiped out
\nimmediately has had little impact on urbanization. Apparently the
\npolicy is very difficult to implement at the district level
\nbecause nobody really knows how best to discourage the slum
\ndwellers from rebuilding once their shanties have been
\ndemolished. It is also not very clear whether the plots of land
\nthat belong to the state-owned railway company, a great number of
\nwhich are filled with shanties, are within the jurisdiction of
\nthe governor.<\/p>\n
In light of all of this, it seems it is high time for everyone
\nto acknowledge and act constructively on the fact that the flood
\nof newcomers would be more likely to slow to a trickle if
\neconomic development were carried out more equitably with a
\nbetter spread of industrial projects in areas outside of Jakarta
\nand the other major urban centers.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/here-come-the-migrants-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}