Bekasi Regency Government Forms Poverty And Unemployment Alleviation Team

BEKASI REGENCY - The Bekasi Regency Government, West Java formed a special team to help accelerate economic growth after the COVID-19 pandemic through a poverty alleviation scheme and suppressing the unemployment rate.

"According to the instructions of the regent, there are two teams tasked with overcoming poverty and unemployment", said Head of Industrial Relations of the Bekasi Regency Manpower Office, Nur Hidayah, in Cikarang, Tuesday, June 14.

She explained that the first team was poverty alleviation, which had actually been formed in 2019, only that it was not optimal and was rearranged according to the leadership's instructions, while her party focused on dealing with the unemployment problem.

"Yesterday I conveyed to the head of the department regarding the proposed name for the Unemployment Reduction Team because it is more specific", she said.

The team consists of at least three regional apparatuses, namely the Manpower Office, the Cooperatives and UMKM Service, and the Industry and Trade Office, plus several associations working in the economy and industry.

"Actually, unemployment is not only the domain of the Manpower Office, it can also be MSMEs, Industry, Apindo, and others. We have just compiled who the members are", she said.

Her party is also currently formulating data pooling before making a long-term plan to reduce unemployment. Comparing data for all relevant regional apparatuses to get a more factual picture of the number of industrial players, employment opportunities, and unemployment rates.

"Because if there is data, it will work more effectively, so far the data are individual, so the program seems to be running partially", she said.

She hopes that the formation of this team can really reduce the unemployment rate, especially for residents from Bekasi Regency, so that it will have an impact on reducing poverty.

Based on the data update of the Central Statistics Agency for West Java on April 19, the open unemployment rate in Bekasi Regency at the end of 2021 reached 10.09 percent or decreased by 1.45 percent compared to the previous year which reached 11.54 percent.

Then, the number of the workforce in 2021 will reach 1,953,408 people, an increase of 112,742 people from the previous year, which was 1,805,666 people, so that the number of people registered as unemployed amounted to 197,098 people.

Nur Hidayah said the number of unemployed was not entirely local, because there were immigrants who were registered as unemployed in Bekasi Regency.

"Actually, the 10 percent figure is not all residents, that's not the case. The data are people who live in Bekasi Regency, so migrants are also recorded. However, we will try how to reduce this 10 percent figure", she said.