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.