Jumhur Hidayat to the Palace Ahead of the Inauguration, Calls Waste and Labor Issues

Labor activist Mohammad Jumhur Hidayat/PHOTO: Teddy Kurniawan-VOI

JAKARTA - Labor activist Mohammad Jumhur Hidayat came to the Presidential Palace Complex, Jakarta, to attend the rehearsal for the inauguration. However, he is not ready to open the post that will be taken over.

"The invitation says to come at two o'clock, he said there was a rehearsal. Yes, we came," said Jumhur, Monday, April 27.

When asked whether he would be inaugurated as Minister of Environment and Forestry, Jumhur did not deny it, but also did not confirm it.

"I don't know exactly," he said.

The majority only said that if they got a job in the environmental field, heavy work was waiting. One of them is the garbage problem.

"The Minister of LHK has many tasks and we must complete them, hard work. The most in front of the eyes is about garbage," he said.

In addition to waste, Jumhur said Indonesia must also follow international issues and agreements gradually. He did not explain in detail the agreement in question.

Jumhur admitted that he was only contacted about the inauguration on Monday morning. However, communication with President Prabowo Subianto was said to have been established for a long time.

"Just like the President, it has been since the 1990s," he said.

Although his name is associated with the minister's seat, Jumhur still carries the issue of labor. He said the labor movement was not only about wages or labor relations, but also had to be able to enter into many fields.

"Labor is not only a technical matter for workers," he said.

Ahead of May 1 Labor Day, the majority said that almost 300 thousand workers would gather at Monas. From Jakarta, around 40 thousand workers are said to be moving by motorcycle.

He said that a number of labor expectations had begun to be accepted by the government. Among them were the ratification of the ILO Convention 188 on the protection of fishermen, the encouragement of the PPRT Law, tightening outsourcing, and re-discussion of the Employment Creation Law to be more fair.

Jumhur also said that workers proposed the formation of the PHK Task Force. According to Jumhur, President Prabowo is planned to issue a Presidential Decree on the PHK mitigation task force.

"How can the government intervene to mitigate layoffs," said Jumhur.

When asked again about his new position, Jumhur still closed the meeting.

"I don't know where I want to go," he said.