Homeless people give city a headache<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Jakarta administration said on Wednesday it had locked up
\n6,943 people in a crackdown on homeless people, beggars, street
\nurchins, sex workers and other members of the city's dispossessed
\nfrom January to November.<\/p>\n
During a similar operation last year, the city detained 2,300
\npeople.<\/p>\n
\"With the arrest of so many people with social problems, our
\ntwo rehabilitation centers are overcapacity by about 15 percent
\neach,\" said Sjarief Mustafa, head of the City Mental, Spiritual
\nand Social Welfare Agency.<\/p>\n
Jakarta has two social rehabilitation centers, in Kedoya, West
\nJakarta, and Cipayung, East Jakarta. The center in West Jakarta
\ncurrently houses 4,126 patients and the center in East Jakarta
\n2,817 patients.<\/p>\n
Sjarief said his agency would ease the pressure on the
\nrehabilitation centers by shipping the patients back to their
\nhometowns and villages.<\/p>\n
\"We are cooperating with other provincial administrations to
\norganize the return of the patients to their hometowns and
\nvillages,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that about 10 percent of the people arrested
\nduring this operation had also been arrested during previous
\noperations.<\/p>\n
\"We need support from other city agencies to help prevent
\npeople with social problems from returning to the streets. It
\njust creates more problems for us,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Sjarief said that despite the lack of rehabilitation
\nfacilities, the agency would continue its regular crackdowns \"to
\nclean the city of people with social problems\".<\/p>\n
The agency has identified 86 areas and intersections that are
\nfrequented by beggars, prostitutes, homeless peoples and others
\nwith social problems.<\/p>\n
Of those detained during the operation, 1,219 were homeless
\npeople, 3,996 beggars, 724 sex workers or transvestite, 473
\npeople with mental disorder, 312 three-in-one joki (paid auto
\npassengers), 45 lepers, 69 street musicians, 82 street urchins,
\n14 beggars and nine illegal traffic wardens.<\/p>\n
\"We also found people who pretended to be street sweepers and
\nwent around to houses asking for money,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Despite the recent operation, the Post observed on Wednesday
\nstreet children and beggars at many of the city's intersections,
\nincluding in Cawang and along Jl. Bekasi Timur, both in East
\nJakarta, as well as in the area around Senayan, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Numerous joki could also be seen along Jl. Gatot Subroto, in
\nthe Sudirman Central Business District and on Jl. S. Parman.<\/p>",
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