Prabowo Frankly Responds to Workers' Requests on Daycare to Housing

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - President Prabowo Subianto attended the peak of the International Labour Day commemoration at Monas, Central Jakarta, on Friday (1/5/2026). On that occasion, Prabowo received input conveyed by labour union leaders, ranging from childcare facilities (daycare) to housing.

“I was given many suggestions earlier, and most of them from your leaders make sense, and we will strive for them. It was mentioned that workers need childcare places, daycare. This is a good suggestion; we will strive for it, we will implement it as soon as possible,” said Prabowo.

Regarding affordable housing, the head of state said that the government has built 350,000 houses to date. However, the government targets at least one million houses to begin construction this year as well.

“And these houses, in line with your suggestion, will be built in clusters close to industrial areas, close to workplaces,” stated Prabowo.

“And I have planned that we will build new cities. Each city will consist of 100,000 houses, 100,000 flats. I have ordered that there must be schools, there must be sports facilities, there must be daycare, there must be hospitals, and most importantly, there must be transportation,” he continued.

The mode of transportation mentioned by Prabowo could be light rail transit (LRT) or buses. The aim is for workers’ mobilisation from residences to workplaces to run smoothly and well.

“And we will try to ensure that workers with cards can use transport at a very low price. Ideally, all of it free. If I have leaders behind me, I want it all free. Calm down, calm down, calm down,” said Prabowo jokingly.