Urbanization has caused high crime rate: Governor<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Governor Surjadi Soedirdja has said that
\nurbanization is one of the main factors causing the city's
\nsurging level of crime.<\/p>\n
Speaking after a meeting with President Soeharto at Merdeka
\nPalace, the governor pointed to the tide of unskilled migrants
\npouring into the city. He said that their lack of training forces
\nthem to take jobs in the informal sector, such as pushcart
\nworkers or as manual laborers in construction firms.<\/p>\n
Since the informal sectors are already overpopulated, they
\nresort to crime to survive, Surjadi said.<\/p>\n
Governor Surjadi was at the palace on Saturday to brief
\nPresident Soeharto on the up-coming Eleventh National Inter-City
\nCongress.<\/p>\n
Apart from discussing about the congress and various urban
\nproblems, Surjadi said Jakarta has a vested interest in urging
\nother cities in the country to help stem the tide of urban
\nmigrants coming here.<\/p>\n
According to him, a national effort to stem urbanization to
\nthe capital can be done by making a law ensuring that Jakarta
\nbelongs to everyone in the country.<\/p>\n
The population and most notably urbanization have been central
\nthemes in identifying the city's ills for over two decades.<\/p>\n
\"People from other provinces have misconceptions, thinking
\nthat getting a job here is easy,\" the governor said. He added
\nthat once these people arrive they find out that making a life
\nhere is difficult but they are too ashamed to go home.<\/p>\n
\"So they force themselves to stay,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Covering an area of 650 square kilometers, the city is now
\nhome to a staggering 8.4 million people.<\/p>\n
With the population boom, the level of crime in Jakarta has
\nalso been steadily increasing, prompting a joint military -
\npolice task force to begin \"operation cleansing\" to restore order
\nin the city's streets.<\/p>\n
\"That's why our concern is to halt the migration to Jakarta,\"
\nSurjadi said.<\/p>\n
Comparisons<\/p>\n
Commenting on the often made comparisons between Jakarta and
\nneighboring Singapore, the governor played down the match saying
\nit was unfair to Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"When people first see Singapore and Jakarta, they come to the
\nconclusion that Jakarta is very ugly,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He commented that we shouldn't forget Singapore only has a
\npopulation of 2.75 million, 90 percent of whom live in flats,
\nleaving much of the land open.<\/p>\n
\"Jakarta has a population of 8.4 million with less than five
\npercent of those people living in flats...so much of the land
\nhere is blanketed with housing,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, during a plenary session of the City Council
\nyesterday, governor Surjadi said there was some success in
\nlowering the annual population growth in the two past decades,
\nfrom 3.93 percent in the 1970s to 2.41 percent in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
However he cautioned that of the latest number about 1.03
\npercent are the result of urbanization.<\/p>\n
\"This situation requires us to improve a variety of
\ninfrastructures in transportation, education, health and
\nhousing,\" Surjadi explained.(mds)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/urbanization-has-caused-high-crime-rate-governor-1447893297",
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