Poverty alleviation programs exclude those without IDs<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
There are many theories to explain why the government's various
\nprograms to eliminate poverty have been futile. In Jakarta, one
\nproblem is clear: Over 100,000 poor do not have ID cards, which
\nmake public services unavailable to them.<\/p>\n
Many of the impoverished Jakartans do not have access to free
\nhealth services, cannot buy cheap rice, cannot obtain soft loans
\nor receive other aid from the government because they cannot show
\nthe card that proves that they are \"legal\" residents.<\/p>\n
Head of the City Health Agency Abdul Chalik Masulili, for
\nexample, admitted on Thursday that the various health programs in
\nthe capital were only for those who had Jakarta ID cards.<\/p>\n
\"All health facilities for the poor are only for those who
\nhave the health cards (kartu sehat), while the cards can only be
\nobtained by those who can show their city identity cards,\" said
\nChalik at a discussion on poverty elimination at a five-star
\nhotel here.<\/p>\n
People without ID cards are excluded from the city health
\nprograms, for other reasons as well. Chalik said that the policy
\nwas taken in order to curb the flow of migrants into the capital.<\/p>\n
\"If we give them the health cards, many more people will flock
\nto Jakarta,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Overpopulation is one of the serious problems in the capital.
\nThe city administration estimates that every year, about 250,000
\npeople migrate to the city.<\/p>\n
Governor Sutiyoso, who has failed to curb the influx of the
\nimpoverished masses, earlier said that he planned to make Jakarta
\na closed city. But the idea received strong criticism from human
\nrights activists. In an effort to discourage unskilled people
\nfrom entering the city, the administration periodically launches
\ncontroversial door-to-door raids to arrest people who fail to
\nshow their city ID cards or other documents.<\/p>\n
In Thursday's seminar, Jakarta Statistics Office presented its
\nresults from 2000 which found that the total population in the
\ncapital was 8.38 million or some 2.23 million families. While the
\ntotal of absolute poor was some 340,000 people. It also revealed
\nthat 32,983 poor families or over 100,000 people did not have
\nidentity cards.<\/p>\n
Other data presented by the National Family Planning
\nCoordinating Board (BKKBN) showed that early this year, the
\nnumber of poor families, which it divided into three levels,
\nreached 360,641, more than one million individuals.<\/p>\n
There are many government programs to combat poverty and to
\nimprove the welfare of the poor, including the social safety net
\n(JPS), which is applied nationwide. Jakarta also has the
\nSubdistrict Society Empowerment Program (PPMK) and various other
\nschemes for family business development.<\/p>\n
Under the PPMK program, which started last year, each of the
\n167 subdistricts in the city received Rp 250 million (US$28,400)
\nin soft loans, which was handled by each subdistrict council. But
\nin some areas, the implementation of the program was reportedly
\nmarred by the practice of corruption due to the lack of
\ntransparency.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the city's policy in dealing with the poor, M.
\nBerkah Gamulya of the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) said that the
\ncity administration should treat everybody equal.<\/p>\n
\"It is really unfair if the poor who do not have ID cards are
\nnot helped. All those people need similar help. If the government
\ndoes not give a hand, who will help them? In any city in the
\nworld, such groups of people always exist and the authority has
\nthe responsibility to help them,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He said that the first thing which should be done was that the
\ncity administration had to recognize the presence of the
\nsquatters as a reality in all urban societies.<\/p>\n
\"Only after the city administration recognizes their
\ninformality, then we can talk about how to help such a group of
\npeople,\" Gamulya said.<\/p>\n
\"What the city authority has done so far to them is to destroy
\nthe places where they live and the places where they do business,
\nwithout giving them any choice,\" he added, referring to the
\nevictions conducted by the city public order officers against the
\npoor.<\/p>\n
Paulus Wirutomo, an urban social affairs observer from the
\nUniversity of Indonesia, also stressed the need for the city
\nadministration to take responsibility for the fate of all people
\nliving in the city.<\/p>\n
Criteria of poor families: 1. Area of home is less than 8
\nsquare meters, 2. A dirt floor, 3. No access to clean water,
\n4. No toilet, 5. No furniture, 6. No meat, fish or eggs for one
\nweek, 7. Not able to buy new clothes for one year.<\/p>\n
A family is categorized as poor if it meets three of the above.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/poverty-alleviation-programs-exclude-those-without-ids-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }