Stemming urbanization

Stemming urbanization

As expected, an influx of newcomers arrived in Jakarta
together with returning Idul Fitri holidaymakers. The newcomers
were brought here by relatives who work in Jakarta. It's been
estimated that at least 200,000 newcomers have come to settle in
this city. The fear, therefore, that Jakarta's population will
reach 16 million by the year 2000 appears justified.

Given those facts, it seems that it is practically impossible
to stem the tide of people coming to live in Jakarta. Besides,
trying to improve one's lot is every person's basic right. What
the Jakarta administration could do is enforce the existing
regulations in such a way as to ensure an orderly environment in
which every person has a fair chance of improving his or her
living conditions.

Even so, it must be realized that we cannot allow such
conditions to go on forever. It would impose too heavy a burden
on the Jakarta administration. This city's problems would become
even more complicated due to the swell in population. It must be
noted that among the thousands of newcomers there will be many
who will not succeed in raising their living standards. Those
people are likely to become beggars or drifters inhabiting the
city's slums. And slums not only spoil the appearance of the
city, they are prone to becoming hotbeds of social ills such as
crime, health and environmental problems.

To minimize the magnitude of this tide of newcomers, emphasis
must perhaps once more be given to the idea of bringing the city
to villages in the sense that more jobs must be made available in
rural areas. A city-like village is not crowded with concrete
buildings, but is a village in which life and living standards
are comparable to that in the city.

-- Suara Karya, Jakarta