1998: Worst year in living memory for many Jakartans

By Ida Indawati Khouw

JAKARTA (JP): Unlike previous years when Jakarta witnessed constant growth in development, the city this year experienced a multitude of severe problems, including a sharp drop in the city budget, the necessary renovation of buildings burned in riots, provision of food for the needy and jobless, and corruption.

No matter on whom the responsibility for managing the capital fell this year, they would have, or should have, experienced a real "headache" as the overall condition added up to a city of problems.

Development programs in Jakarta this year practically ground to a halt. Major construction projects become a rare sight after the city administration was forced to set aside part of its budget for more urgent needs.

While on one hand the administration has only a limited budget, on the other hand it had to bear the burden of socioeconomic problems, which have never been so demanding.

On March 16, the City Council endorsed the 1998/1999 budget of Rp 2.79 trillion, a 10 percent decrease from last year's routine and development expenditure, under the assumption of zero economic growth and inflation of 25 percent throughout the fiscal year.

This was the first decrease in such expenditure during the New Order era, according to city councilors.

After the first six months of the fiscal year, however, the budget was further cut to only Rp 1.75 trillion due to the severe impact of the prolonged economic crisis, which began in the middle of last year.

For the sake of efficiency, adaptations to the limited budget have been implemented, including the merging of several city- owned companies which had similar core businesses.

No development expenditure was budgeted, forcing the administration to temporarily shelve any plans for building new infrastructure or implementing routine programs, such as the regreening and blue sky programs.

The administration has been forced to also limit its routine expenditure, especially telephone, water and electricity usage. Also no more free lunches, coffee or tea is provided for City Hall employees.

Bloody unrest

Amid problems arising from the limited budget, the city was hit by bloody massive riots in May, leading to the downfall of former president Soeharto on May 21. In the riots, more than 6,000 buildings and other public facilities worth about Rp 2.5 trillion were damaged, an amount 43 percent higher than the revised city budget.

The May 13 to May 15 rioting also cost 1,200 lives and left most Jakartans in fear after the lawlessness became widespread. The riots took most people by surprise, with no one believing Jakarta would ever experience such strife. Looting broke out in most parts of the city, targeting shops, shopping centers and malls owned by wealthy businesspeople, mainly Indonesians of Chinese descent. City residents who had been feeling the pinch of the crisis joined the melee, leaving security personnel helpless to stop it.

The administration was then burdened with the task of renovating and reconstructing many public facilities, mainly traditional markets.

But before renovation was completed the capital was again hit by more rioting after the fatal shooting of student demonstrators at the Semanggi cloverleaf on Nov. 13. Eight students were shot dead during the incident and another eight people were killed.

The city suffered a further Rp 16.46 billion in financial losses in the damaging, burning and looting of 123 city-owned and private properties, 165 public facilities and 70 vehicles.

Seeming to be a never-ending story, in the same month the capital was again hit by the violent Ketapang incident, sparked by a clash between local residents and guards at a local gambling center. The incident ended with 14 deaths, the burning and vandalism of 22 churches and the destruction of several Protestant and Catholic schools.

More funds

The administration was forced to set aside another Rp 97.5 million from its budget for rebuilding and repairing 19 of the 22 damaged churches and a mosque.

"These are the only funds we can provide," Governor Sutiyoso said during the handover of the donation, which fell far short of the total funds needed for the work.

When commenting on the barbaric acts committed by Jakartans in a series of incidents, Sutiyoso said he was ashamed to be the governor of Jakarta.

"Where's the pride in governing a city whose people enjoy murdering others as if they are killing pigs; looting and robbing?

"Tell me, where should I put my face as a governor of such a city?" he said.

The governor also complained that if such conditions prevailed, the budget would have to be allocated to too many renovation projects.

"When will we think about how to develop our city?" he asked.

Amid the uncertainty and chaos, Jakartans are faced with increasingly difficult lives as prices of basic commodities, mainly foodstuffs, and almost all other products continue to skyrocket day by day.

The hardships have forced many, especially those living in underdeveloped subdistricts, to reduce their daily food intake.

While struggling just to survive, many families have taken their children out of school. Education, according to them, is only a burden during such difficult times.

Data at the Jakarta office of the Ministry of Education and Culture reveals that, as of October, about 9,000 out of one million students of state and private elementary to senior high schools have dropped out of school due to the economic crisis.

The governor has tried to make help people through the crisis by urging various parties, mainly wealthy businesspeople, to join his foodstuffs donation drive.

The needy

Sutiyoso has ceaselessly visited various areas in the city's five mayoralties to distribute donations to the needy.

Even though the food donation drive has become a trendy movement, it obviously cannot solve the problem as, according to some residents, food aid only brings temporary relief.

"I think it would be better if the authorities think about our future rather than distributing food like this, which will be finished in, let's say, three days," said Darinah, a resident of Kali Baru subdistrict in North Jakarta, one of the city's poorest areas.

Darinah, who can no longer sell fruit due to a lack of capital, said it would be better if the administration lent the needy capital to start businesses, "then we should be allowed to repay the money over a certain period of time".

The administration apparently has no cure for people's problems. Critics say that the chronically corrupt city officials make it difficult because any attempt to solve the problem could be corrupted, like what allegedly occurred in the use of funds for the labor intensive project, which was designed to ease the unemployment crisis.

The project has been criticized because it is not only corrupted -- through manipulation by local officials for the sake of gaining profit -- but it helps only a limited number of people, and above all the help is only temporary.

To finance the project, the administration allocated Rp 77.2 billion from its budget. In its implementation it absorbs 70,000 jobless people, far below the 825,900 unemployed registered at the city office of the manpower ministry. The real number of unemployed could be far more than the official number.

Under the project, jobless people are included in waterworks repairs, river dredging and the renovation of dikes and canals throughout the city with a daily wage of Rp 7,500 each.

In a bid to help provide job opportunities, the governor ruled that three-wheeled pedicabs (becak) would be allowed to operate in the city again from June 25 after being banned for 10 years on the grounds that the work was inhumane.

"(It is) to provide job opportunities for the unemployed in the current monetary crisis," he said.

But instead of improving the condition, it caused chaos when Jakarta was "stormed" by the arrival of thousands of becak drivers.

Hoping to make a better living, the pedicab drivers arrived in trucks or pedaled their vehicles not only from the surrounding towns of Bekasi and Tangerang but also from other cities in West and Central Java.

Welcome

The governor's decision was welcomed by several circles, but strongly opposed by city councilors because City Ordinance No. 11/1988 states that Jakarta is a pedicab-free area and operating pedicabs in the city at any time is prohibited.

The drivers were plunged into confusion when Sutiyoso revoked his ruling just seven days after he announced it and ordered pedicab drivers to return to their hometowns. The authorities later launched a series of massive operations to rid the city of pedicabs, even though the drivers, backed by non-governmental organization activists, strongly opposed it.

The pedicab debacle occupied the minds of many people, especially when the city's five mayors were forced to allocate an additional Rp 10 million to send the drivers back to their hometowns.

Following Soeharto's departure, waves of public demand for reform, especially to eradicate collusion, corruption and nepotism (KKN), also influenced the city administration, which became well-known as a base for many corrupt officials.

Sutiyoso quickly responded to the demand by setting up a reform team in June led by Deputy Governor of Administrative Affairs Abdul Kahfi.

The team, established by gubernatorial decree, focused on four major issues -- public services, the budget, expenditure and law and organization.

But many parties, including city councilors, criticized the team for its lack of achievement.

The councilors said the team might face difficulties in carrying out its mission because KKN was so deeply rooted in the administration officials. If the team was committed it would find it much easier to detect projects linked to dirty practices than it would detecting projects untainted by KKN, the councilors said.

Despite the year's hardships, some irresponsible parties still dare to cause the administration huge losses through corruption.

Djafar Badjeber, head of City Council Commission B for economic affairs, said many city administration officials from the lowest to the highest ranks were still involved in malfeasance mainly due to the absence of effective control and supervision. He declined to give an exact amount of losses, but some media claim it has reached about 35 percent of the total annual budget.

Mark-up

The councilor said many errant officials have taken advantage of the budget by marking up the value of projects managed by their departments. The markup of projects not only leads to improper construction, but also to low quality infrastructure and public facilities.

"The administration always defends itself from public criticism and vows to fix officials' performance, but no action has ever been taken," he said.

The administration also recently promised to take punitive action after it was found earlier this month that about Rp 16 billion was missing from this fiscal year's city budget allocated for the maintenance of official vehicles.

According to data from the city supplies office, the real number of official vehicles included in routine expenditure was only 3,873, far below the figure of 6,797 that was reported for the budget calculation.

According to Kahfi, it has been known for a long time that there was money missing, but no action has ever been taken.