Heaptalk, Jakarta — The prolonged debate over the public housing savings program (Tapera) led the Indonesian People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR RI) to summon the Minister of Public Works and Housing (PUPR), Basuki Hadimuljono, on Thursday (06/06).
Minister Basuki agreed to the MPR’s request to delay employee salary deductions under the Tapera program. According to him, implementing the public housing savings program must consider the public’s readiness. “Hence, if there is a suggestion, primarily from the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Chairman of the MPR, to postpone it, I have already contacted the Minister of Finance, and we will postpone it,” he said.
In a working meeting with Commission V of the DPR RI, several members of the DPR RI raised questions about the Tapera program. One of them, Irine Yusiana Roba Putri, a member of Commission V from the PDIP faction, stated that Basuki was not firm in addressing the Tapera issue.
“When asked about Tapera, why is the answer not firm?” she remarked. Irine also criticized Tapera’s salary deductions. According to her, subsidies are the state’s obligation, not the citizens. Therefore, she asked the government to review this program.
Since being signed by President Joko Widodo on May 20, 2024, Government Regulation Number 21 of 2024, governing the public housing savings program, has reaped objections from both workers and employers. Both parties asked the government to make Tapera voluntary.
