Tangerang fears job-seekers influx

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

It is the time of year, as in previous years, that the Tangerang regency and municipal administrations have to deal with the influx of would-be job seekers hailing from various regions in Java and Sumatra.

As home to some 3,000 industrial firms, Tangerang attracts thousands of people wishing to work at the factories.

"Little do they know that many of the firms have closed down and have dismissed their workers due to financial constraints. We currently have 20,000 unemployed residents," head of Tangerang regency Manpower Agency Apon Suryana said on Thursday.

He argued that the problem continues because the city and the regency has yet to set regulations to restrict job seekers from entering Tangerang.

Apon said that the administration had repeatedly called on factory workers, who returned to their hometowns for the Idul Fitri holidays, not to bring their unemployed relatives to Tangerang.

"But such calls have been unsuccessful ... We will always face difficulties in controlling newcomers, who mostly target industrial districts such as Pasar Kemis, Cikupa, Balaraja, and Jatiuwung," Apon said.

Separately, head of the Tangerang municipal Manpower Agency, Adang Turwana, said that many firms that produced textiles, shoes and leather products had closed their businesses because their buyers had placed orders to Vietnam due to security issues.

Nainggolan, a staff member of a cable industry in Cikupa, concurred with Adang, said that many industrial firms were closed down because currently they depended on limited orders from other industrial firms, such as producing raw materials for the textile industry.