A subsidised-housing complex is pictured in Bogor, West Java, on Jan 6, 2020. - Photo: Antara file
JAKARTA: The government has launched a subsidised housing programme for journalists, aiming to allocate 1,000 units this year as part of its effort to ensure access to affordable housing for media workers across the country.
The initiative is part of the government’s housing finance liquidity facility (FLPP), a mortgage scheme that has allocated a quota of 220,000 housing units in 2025 for various recipients, including migrant workers, farmers and health workers.
The FLPP itself was initially established in 2010 to provide loans to low-income private employees and civil servants but the eligibility has been expanded to other groups and individuals in a higher income bracket, in a bid to ensure more people have access to affordable homes.
At a press conference on Tuesday (April 8), Public Housing and Settlements Minister Maruarar Sirait said that the first phase of the subsidised housing programme for journalists would kick off on May 6, aiming to allocate 100 housing units in Greater Jakarta.
The eligible journalists will be selected with the help of the Press Council and the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI).
“We recognise the challenges in determining the recipients because certainly the demand will outnumber the available [housing] units. Therefore, we want to ensure that the selection process is conducted objectively,” Maruarar said as quoted in a press release.
Speaking at the same event, Communications and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said having housing security would support journalists in their work.
“Not all journalists are living prosperously and not all of them have access to affordable housing,” said Meutya, who is herself a former TV journalist.
However, critics have warned the initiative could undermine the independence of journalists and gradually shut down criticism of the government.
Responding to critics, both Maruarar and Meutya insisted that the subsidy for journalists was purely President Prabowo Subianto’s effort to tackle the worrying housing problem in the country and that it would not affect press freedom.
According to a report from Statistic Indonesia (BPS), almost 10 million households do not own their own homes and some one-third of homeowners live in uninhabitable houses. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
