Poverty program alarms the poor<\/p>\n
Hundreds of poor people from across Jakarta staged a peaceful
\nrally on Monday at the World Bank building, protesting an alleged
\nmisinterpretation of the poverty alleviation program being
\ninitiated by the World Bank (WB) and the United Nations (UN).<\/p>\n
Wardah Hafidz from the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), the
\norganizer of the rally, said local administrations could
\nmanipulate the City Alliance program, which aims to create
\n\"prosperous cities without slums\", to justify the use of violence
\nin controlling poor citizens.<\/p>\n
\"Such terms put urban poor people in danger, as they could be
\nused by local administrations to raid and relocate them out of
\nthe cities and sanction the use of force,\" Wardah said.<\/p>\n
The use of violence by the city's public order officers in
\nrecent raids against becak (pedicab) drivers and street vendors
\nhas been commonplace, with the city administration attempting to
\nrid the capital of poor people, Wardah said.<\/p>\n
Governor Sutiyoso pledged on Friday to continue operations
\naimed at maintaining order in the city amid harsh criticism from
\nmany non-governmental organization.<\/p>\n
\"Cities without slums, jointly launched by the WB and the UN,
\ncould worsen the situation,\" she said.<\/p>\n
In light of the criticism, the WB's acting director in
\nIndonesia, Vikram Nehru, promised to notify both the WB and UN
\nheadquarters of the concerns.<\/p>\n
Vikram said his office would also ask the governor to ensure
\nthat there would be no use of violence during the implementation
\nof the program.<\/p>\n
Wardah said further discussion on the issue would be
\nconsidered on Wednesday. -- JP<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/poverty-program-alarms-the-poor-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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