Non-Jakarta IDs preferred for maids
Non-Jakarta IDs preferred for maids
Bambang Nurbianto and Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta
Employment agencies supplying maids and nannies welcome the city
administration's plan to conduct Jakarta identity card sweeps of
their companies, although they say they prefer to place domestics
with non-Jakarta ID cards.
The administration is expected to begin rounding up migrants
who do not possess Jakarta ID cards next week, after the end of
the Idul Fitri travel season, despite criticism from some
observers.
"As law abiding citizens we welcome the (administration's)
plan, but the city administration must also understand the nature
of our business," Tien of the Jaya Abadi Foundation told The
Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
"It is safer for us to accept applicants with non-Jakarta IDs
because their addresses are valid and more easily traced than
those with Jakarta IDs."
Tien said the majority of workers with Jakarta IDs had moved
from the addresses listed on their cards.
She said the foundation preferred to recruit workers with non-
Jakarta ID cards, and then put them through a two-month training
course on how to be a nanny or maid.
"We always report to the neighborhood unit chief about the
presence of new people during the training period," Tien said.
The manager of the Kasih Ibu Foundation, Ita, said job
applicants had to have non-Jakarta ID cards.
She said that the foundation only placed people already
qualified as maids, nannies, gardeners and drivers because it did
not have an education unit.
"The applicants stay here for less than a week, especially the
maids, who are placed in jobs in less than three days. A nanny,
on the other hand, may have to wait for a week."
Both Tien and Ita said job applicants had to have clear
backgrounds, something that could not be guaranteed with Jakarta
ID cards, many of which are obtained through illegal
channels.
Most migrants entering Jakarta after Idul Fitri are unskilled
workers who end up working in such jobs as maid and gardener.
Some of the more skilled workers can find employment as drivers
and nannies.
The City Population Agency said that during the holiday season
2.64 million Jakartans left the city, while about 2.87 million
people entered the capital at the end of the holiday.
"The presence of 230,000 additional residents justifies the
need to conduct such (ID card) raids," agency chief Sylviana
Murni said on Wednesday.
"The raids will be carried out next week, especially in
boardinghouses and dorms."
While the agency's data showed more people coming into the
city than leaving, data from the city's Idul Fitri transportation
task force tells a different story.
According to the task force, some 1.90 million people left the
city and 1.35 million people came in.
"The discrepancy in the data happened because the
transportation task force only looked at people using public
transportation.
"We collected data not only from the transportation task force
but also from other transportation authorities and the police,"
Sylviana said.
The ID card raids were originally planned for immediately
after Idul Fitri but were postponed.
There is a city bylaw on population that stipulates that
migrants have two weeks to apply for Jakarta ID cards.
Sylviana refused to say exactly when the raids would take
place, saying that would take the surprise out of the whole
process.