Don't bring relatives: Sutiyoso

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso urged all Jakartans spending the week-long festive holidays at home not to bring relatives or friends back with them to the capital.

The arrival of new migrants here will only be a burden to the city, he said during a visit to several major traditional markets, bus terminals, train stations and the Tanjung Priok seaport.

The governor said people no longer needed to seek jobs in the capital since their homes would have better job opportunities in line with the implementation of regional autonomy slated for next month.

"Regional autonomy will offer great chances for development in every province.

"So why should anyone come to the capital if their region can offer more comfortable jobs?" said Sutiyoso, who was accompanied by other top city officials, including Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Mulyono Sulaiman.

The capital at this time, the governor said, was an inconvenient place to live in for the jobless and inexperienced migrants since it offered few jobs or relatively affordable housing.

"Jakarta is not a nice place to live in. There are no places to stay or jobs to do here."

The City Public Order officer will arrest you if you are homeless, so don't come here," Sutiyoso told the holidaymakers, who were mostly government employees and casual workers.

He repeated his remarks in the same tone during dialogs with travelers at other train stations and bus terminals.

During the visit, the governor also checked the price of several basic needs in which he learned some of the prices for the commodities, such as eggs and beef, had gone up over the past few days due to transportation problems resulting from the recent natural disasters in Java and Sumatra.

"The price increases result more from the significant hike in the transportation fare, not because of inadequate stock," Sutiyoso said. (dja)