Bontang City's Unemployment Reduction Strategy Receives Praise from the Ministry of Home Affairs
Mayor of Bontang, Neni Moerniaeni, emphasised that as a supporting region for the Nusantara Capital (IKN), Bontang City upholds the vision of “Realising Bontang as an Advanced, Prosperous, and Sustainable Industrial and Services City as an IKN Partner Region.” This vision serves as the foundation for formulating various strategic policies, including addressing employment challenges and regional economic development.
Neni Moerniaeni outlined the Bontang City Government’s comprehensive steps to reduce unemployment rates during the “National Development Orchestration Forum” themed “Strategic Regional Synergy in Addressing Challenges and Strengthening National Competitiveness,” held in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, on Tuesday, 5 May 2026.
In that forum, she explained that the Bontang City Government continues to strive to suppress unemployment figures through various efforts, such as enhancing training, skills development, apprenticeships, and worker certification by opening 63 training disciplines for 1,857 job seekers.
The Bontang City Government also improves job opportunity facilitation, establishes communication forums between training institutions and local industries; enhances public service delivery, forms disability service units (ULD), and increases investment realisation, which rose by up to 13.66% in 2025.
In addition, Neni stated that the Bontang City Government provides social security for employment to vulnerable workers, including domestic assistants, artisans, and other informal workers. “Currently, it has reached 36,777 individuals. This can improve the welfare and sense of security for workers,” she said.
The Bontang City Government also strengthens regulatory aspects through monitoring the enforcement of Regional Regulation No. 10 of 2018 on recruitment and placement of workers, as well as Regional Regulation No. 11 of 2018 on the protection of outsourced worker rights.
To ensure the sustainability of the programmes, the Bontang City Government also promotes six main strategies, namely strengthening human resource competencies, expanding job opportunities, developing entrepreneurship, and enhancing multi-stakeholder synergy and collaboration.
Furthermore, the utilisation of technology and innovation is continuously encouraged, accompanied by sustainable monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to ensure every programme runs effectively and on target.
These various efforts have led the Bontang City Government to win first place in the 2026 Kalimantan Regional Outstanding Local Government Appreciation event, organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs, at the Platinum Hotel in Balikpapan, on Tuesday, 5 May 2026.
She stated that the award serves as motivation for her as mayor and related agencies to continue implementing unemployment reduction programmes. “Certainly, this becomes motivation and enthusiasm for us all, for me as mayor, the community, and related agencies on how to implement unemployment reduction programmes,” she said.
She affirmed that the award is the result of collective hard work through various implemented programmes. “Certainly, this is the result of our collective hard work through various programmes. Through Naker Friends, we also optimise the Labour Regional Regulation which mandates that 75% of workers are local residents,” she said.