TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan symbolically distributed thousands of Worker Card for labors with Jakarta identity card (KTP). The Worker Card was previously distributed by the Manpower and Transmigration Office in four stages since November 2018.

“The total number of people who get the Worker Card in Jakarta currently 3,070 workers. Earlier we handed over 1,564 cards,” Anies said at Jakgrosir Kramatjati Central Market, East Jakarta, Monday morning, December 31.

Anies Baswedan explained that the thousands of workers who received the Worker Card had been verified by the Jakarta Manpower Office.

Read: Anies Baswedan Sets Jakarta`s Minimum Wage at Rp3.94mn

The Jakarta workers can use the Worker Card for riding on Transjakarta for free, shopping staple in Jakgrosir, and get food subsidies every month.

The governor issued the Worker Card policy after set the 2019 Jakarta Minimum Wage (UMP) at Rp3,940,973.06. It follows government regulation No. 78 of 2015, which regulated a wage increase of only 8.03 percent. It is smaller than what is requested by the workers, which is Rp4,373,820.02.

Anies Baswedan believes that with subsidies, workers can meet their monthly needs.

However, the Worker Card distribution is still far from the target stated by Head of Manpower Office Andri Yansyah, which is 744,662 cards at the end of 2018.

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH