People scrimp and save to weather crisis<\/p>\n
By M.M.I Ahyani & Agus Maryono<\/p>\n
BANDUNG (JP): Fifty-year-old Komariah earns Rp 200,000 (US$
\n18) per month washing clothes for eight university students
\nliving in boarding houses on Jl. Taman Sari. Her meager earnings
\nare stretched to provide for her two children and two
\ngrandchildren.<\/p>\n
She used to be able to buy two kilograms of rice, some
\nvegetables and other side dishes, some cooking oil and kerosene
\nfor Rp 7,500. Now, with the cost of low quality rice rising to Rp
\n2,750 per kilogram, she has to make do with much less.<\/p>\n
\"I buy much less rice and make porridge out of it so that it
\ncan go further. If we can't have tempeh or tofu, then we just eat
\nthe porridge with salt and cengek (hot chili),\" she said last
\nweek.<\/p>\n
She said she was also preparing for a day when she would no
\nlonger be able to afford rice and they would be forced to eat
\nyams instead.<\/p>\n
\"Insya Allah (God willing), I'll be able to stand (the
\nhardship). As long as I can eat something and continue to work.
\nBut I don't know whether my grandchildren would be able to stand
\nit,\" she sighed.<\/p>\n
She could not bring herself to ask for a raise from the
\nstudents, given how they, too, have had to make various
\nadjustments in their budgets because of the economic crisis.<\/p>\n
\"I am just thankful that they still let me do their laundry.
\nMany of their friends have started doing their own laundry, while
\nothers have to stop eating rice and buy noodles, instead,\"
\nKomariah said.<\/p>\n
Komariah and her family are among the many urban dwellers in
\nthe country who face increasing hardships due to, among others,
\nskyrocketing prices of basic commodities, especially rice.<\/p>\n
Lili, a 20-year-old man from Majalaya regency, said many of
\nhis neighbors had stopped eating rice and were now subsisting on
\nyams or cassava. Many of them stole the yams because they do not
\nhave land of their own.<\/p>\n
\"Many of my neighbors have lost their jobs. They don't have
\nany money and prices keep increasing. That's why they steal yams
\nand cassava,\" Lili said.<\/p>\n
Lili, who said he chose not to steal, came to Bandung and
\napproached families at random offering to do anything in exchange
\nfor a meal. \"I don't want to steal. Just give me enough to eat,
\nand I'll do anything,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He now washes the car and does odd jobs around the house for a
\nlocal family.<\/p>\n
Dayat, 24, sings for coins at the traffic light at the Pasir
\nKaliki-Padjadjaran intersection. He used to make Rp 7,500 a day,
\nwith which he could buy three good meals a day and a pack of
\ncigarettes. Now, he makes much less and has to ask for credit
\nfrom a local warung (foodstall) in order to eat.<\/p>\n
\"I used to be able to eat on only Rp 2,000 per day, and save
\nsome money to take home to my family in Lembang (north of
\nBandung),\" he said. \"Now, unless I have Rp 3,500, I'm not able to
\neat.\"<\/p>\n
\"I no longer think about bringing money back to my family. If
\nI can pass a day without adding to my credit at the foodstall, I
\nconsider myself lucky,\" he said.<\/p>\n
West Java used to be among the most important rice suppliers
\nof the nation. In 1994, it produced almost 10 million metric tons
\nof rice, a significant portion of the country's total 46.4
\nmillion ton yield that year.<\/p>\n
Experts have pointed out that the country's rice production
\nwill be lower this year due to an El Nio-induced late planting
\nseason. Higher prices that have followed have been compounded by
\nthe fact it is too costly to import enough rice for the country's
\n203 million people due to the rupiah's fall against the U.S.
\ndollar.<\/p>\n
The government had projected the need to import 4.1 million
\ntons of rice to meet demand. It has so far imported 3.6 million
\ntons.<\/p>\n
However, experts also say that even if 90 percent of the
\nplanting target can be met this year, the country would still
\nhave to import 4.5 million tons if consumption levels remained at
\n130 kgs per person.<\/p>\n
Villages<\/p>\n
Some people in rural areas are better prepared.<\/p>\n
Umar, 70, said her family and many neighbors in Ciamis still
\nhad some rice stocked. \"We eat rice with whatever vegetable is
\navailable in the yard, or with fish we catch on our own,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
But this was an option only for those with larger plots of
\nland. Tenant farmers actually face the same hardships as urban
\ndwellers.<\/p>\n
\"Well, those who have rice here always help those who don't,\"
\nUmar said. \"However, we do have problems from crop failures and
\nwe don't know how long our stocks will last.\"<\/p>\n
Some villagers find it difficult to keep food on their table
\nevery day. In some Central Java towns, not only more cases of
\nrice theft have been reported, but also theft of cooked rice or
\nyams and cassava from various households and foodstalls.<\/p>\n
In the regencies of Banyumas, Banjarnegara, Purbalingga and
\nCilacap, farmers are camping out in their fields following a
\nseries of crop thefts committed during the night.<\/p>\n
Known as rojeng in the local language, the looting is usually
\ncommitted by a group of about 20 people.<\/p>\n
Suparno, a 49-year-old farmer from Kemangkon village in
\nPurbalingga, has been victim of several night-time rice thefts.<\/p>\n
\"I didn't lose a great deal because the thefts were done in a
\ntraditional way of cutting, but I know that many of the thieves
\nwere my own neighbors,\" he said. \"This time, it's OK. I know how
\npoor they are and how difficult it is for them to find something
\nto eat.\"<\/p>\n
Purbalingga Police chief Lt. Col. Robby Kaligis confirmed the
\ncases of cooked rice and cassava thefts. \"They show how difficult
\nit is now for people to eat. Not that I condone theft,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Separately, Purbalingga Regent Soelarno said there are 87,567
\npoor families in his regency. He promised to conduct market
\noperations, starting Monday, and sell rice at a subsidized price
\nof Rp 1,000 per kilogram.<\/p>\n
\"Each family will get 10 kgs per month, for the next nine
\nmonths,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/people-scrimp-and-save-to-weather-crisis-1447893297",
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