Railway tracks are home to many poor Jakartans<\/p>\n
By Multa Fidrus<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): If you happen to travel by train from Jatinegara
\nstation heading toward Senen, take a look toward the left-hand
\nside just before you pass the train depot. You will see a line of
\nnon-permanent houses made of bamboo or plywood and somber middle-
\naged women -- some carrying their baby -- passing the time and
\nchatting, while washing or sewing torn clothes.<\/p>\n
"All residents along this railway are poor families that
\nmostly work as scavengers," one of them, a 46-year old woman
\nnamed Nursangidah, said.<\/p>\n
This resident of Pisangan Baru, Matraman, East Jakarta, lives
\nwith her 60-year old husband Saiyan and a 16-year old daughter in
\na 2 meter by 3 meter house. She claimed that she had been living
\nthere for 26 years. Such a long period somehow seems too short
\nfor most migrants to the capital to settle down to a modest way
\nof life.<\/p>\n
Peep inside the house: there is no sofa, chair, table, bed or
\ncupboard. It is actually hard to call this dismal structure a
\nhouse. It is more like a hut or a cage. Behind these
\napproximately 20 cages is a small, filthy stream.<\/p>\n
Shabby clothes are hanging on string washing lines in front of
\nthe house, requiring any visitor to bow before entering the cage,
\nwhich has a door and one window facing the stream. Water pumps
\nare also a common sight here on the land adjacent to the railway,
\nbelonging to PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), the state railway
\ncompany.<\/p>\n
"We residents alongside this railway pay Rp 5,000 per month to
\nPT KAI for the land we occupy," said Nursangidah.<\/p>\n
The thin and dark-skinned woman had, along with her husband,
\nleft her hometown in Wonosobo in Central Java, for a better life
\nin the city.<\/p>\n
But it turned out that life is really hard. Her husband has no
\nfixed job, and she has to earn money by washing the neighbors'
\nclothes or looking after their baby, or doing anything else she
\nis asked to. She usually receives between Rp 5,000 and Rp 10,000
\nfor washing clothes, and between Rp 2,000 and Rp 3,000 for baby-
\nsitting.<\/p>\n
"But this job is not permanent, although I need money to send
\nmy daughter to senior high school this year," she said, adding
\nthat the family received financial support from her husband's
\nrelatives for the daughter's school fees.<\/p>\n
Despite the hard life, Nursangidah said the family would only
\nreturn to their hometown if they were forced to leave the area
\nsomeday.<\/p>\n
"There is nothing I can do there. In Jakarta I can still earn
\nat least Rp 2,000 per day to buy rice," she said.<\/p>\n
Once she followed her relatives to Banjarmasin, South
\nKalimantan, but she soon returned to Jakarta, as she could not
\nmake any money there.<\/p>\n
Despite being poor, she said, Jakarta is still a better place
\nto live for her family.<\/p>\n
Another person, Ajeng, a 40-year old divorcee, shares this
\nview.<\/p>\n
Ajeng lives in a 2 meter by 3 meter bamboo house located
\nalongside the railway line in the Gunung Antang area, right
\nbehind the Urip Sumohardjo Army housing complex in Jatinegara.
\nShe lives happily in the "cage" by herself.<\/p>\n
Ajeng, who has been married six times, said that she lived
\nwith her last husband in Tanah Merdeka, Kali Baru port, North
\nJakarta. Seven years ago, her husband, a fisherman who owned two
\nmotorboats, married another woman, so she left him and began
\nearning money by selling food along the railway, such as fried
\nnoodles, fried bananas and coffee.<\/p>\n
"There's no problem being poor and living in this bamboo cage
\nas long as I can eat," she said with a smile.<\/p>\n
She had no children from her last marriage, while her two
\nchildren from her fifth husband were already married and lived
\nwith their families, respectively in Sumatra and West Java.<\/p>\n
There are many other similar stories of poor people in the
\ncapital who do not depend on government assistance to survive.
\nYet their social, economic and cultural rights have always been
\ndenied by city bylaw No. 11\/1988 on public order. The bylaw
\nauthorizes the city administration to take action against street
\nvendors or anyone -- usually in the informal sector -- deemed to
\nbe disturbing public order.<\/p>\n
Coordinator of the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) Wardah Hafids
\ndefined poverty from two perspectives: economic and social.
\nEconomically, she said, people were regarded as poor if the
\nearnings of a family comprising three to five members were less
\nthan Rp 35,000 per week or Rp 150,000 per month. Socially, the
\npoor were families that worked in the informal sector, such as
\npedicab drivers, street vendors or casual laborers. They did not
\nhave rights over land and usually lived along river banks or near
\nrailway lines.<\/p>\n
She said it was necessary to empower the poor in handling
\neconomic problems and encourage them to have self-esteem. For
\nthese people, the skill to make money and the improvement of
\ntheir self-esteem were more important than financial aid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/railway-tracks-are-home-to-many-poor-jakartans-1447893297",
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