President Ensures Commitment to Provide Affordable Housing for Workers

Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Prabowo Subianto has ensured his commitment to providing decent and affordable housing for workers. An official statement in Jakarta on Friday indicated that the government has built hundreds of thousands of homes for the public and plans to undertake larger-scale construction in the future. “We have already built quite a lot this year, reaching 350,000 homes. But our target is at least one million homes; we will start this year as well, one million homes. These homes will be built in clusters near industrial areas and close to workplaces, as per your suggestions,” the President stated while attending the International Labour Day commemoration at Monas in Jakarta. The President conveyed plans to develop new cities designed to be worker-friendly. These new cities will be equipped with various facilities to support the needs of their residents. He mentioned that each city is planned to have around 100,000 housing units. “I have ordered that there must be schools, sports facilities, daycares, hospitals, and most importantly, transportation, whether light rail, buses, so that workers can commute to their jobs smoothly and efficiently,” Prabowo said. The President emphasised that focusing on meeting housing needs is essential, given the high burden of housing expenses for workers thus far. According to the President, the government will direct these expenditures to be redirected into home ownership instalments with long and affordable tenors. “So, what was previously 30 per cent for rent, we will reduce that. That will be for you to instal your own home. The instalments, if possible, over 20 years. If not 20 years, 25 years. If not settled in 25 years, 30 years. If not, 35 years, 40 years. Because workers won’t run away anywhere, right? Farmers and fishermen won’t run away either,” the President explained. Meanwhile, in the financing sector, the President emphasised that the government will provide access to low-interest credit through state-owned banks. One of them is through the government’s plan to launch the People’s Business Credit (KUR) with a maximum interest rate of five per cent per year.