A somber room for rent, shared among workers

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Food, clothes and housing are three basic needs of human beings. Ironically, many people in the city do not eat healthy food and do not have enough money to by new clothes, let alone find a proper place to live.

The skyrocketing price of houses prevents them from getting one or even renting one. Consequently, they have to rent a room -- a cheap one -- which they share with several other people.

"I could even not afford to rent a room on my own," Kardi, a construction worker from Pandeglang, West Java, told The Jakarta Post.

He shares a rented room with three other man in the Halim area of East Jakarta for Rp 100,000 a month.

Kardi does not have a regular income. If he is lucky, he can get as much as Rp 75,000 a week, but sometimes he only earns Rp 25,000. Once in three months, the 35-year-old man usually returns home, bringing the money for his wife and three children in Pandeglang.

"But last Idul Fitri I could not go home because I had no money," he said sadly.

The shanty where Kardi lives is located on a riverbank and was build seven years ago by its owner, a street vendor. It consists of two rooms and one attic. The owner's family of one child live in one of the rooms and rent out the rest of the house.

Aryati, the owner's wife, said that her family rented the rooms to get more money.

"I can get Rp 200,000 a month, that's not bad at all," she said, saying that it supported her family.

There is no kitchen or bathroom in the house. If Aryati or her tenants want to cook, they share two stoves and kitchen utensils that she has outside the house.

There is a public bathroom in the neighborhood and those who want to take a bath have to pay Rp 500, or Rp 300 if they want to use the toilet.

Kardi's modest room measures about 4 meters by 4 meters and is without furniture. There is only a mat and some pillows on the floor. It is dark even during the daytime.

He has been staying in the room since he arrived in the capital five years ago looking for a better life.

"I thought I could bring them here after I got established. Up until now, we haven't attained our dream," he said, adding that his family lived with his parents in Pandeglang.

Sharing a room with several people is not easy.

"You don't have any privacy here. But I've already got used to it as we are a family now," said Kardi.

For tenants who want privacy, there are also rented rooms for individuals, offered at affordable prices.

In Tanah Abang, near Jl. Jatibaru, Central Jakarta, there are many boarding houses with rooms that are available at a price of between Rp 40,000 and Rp 100,000 per month each.

Most of the tenants are low-level officials and vendors, said Lia, who owns a house containing 10 rooms.

She said that the price of a room depended on the space and the facilities offered. A room measuring 2 meters by 1.5 meters is rented for Rp 40,000. There is a bed, a small table and a mirror on the wall in each room.

She has complemented her boarding house with a living room, two bathrooms and a kitchen.

"The subdistrict office does not tax the business. But we have to pay for sanitation," she said.

As there are many dorms in the area, some residents in the neighborhood have opened new businesses catering to the needs of the tenants, such as food stalls and public telephones kiosks, she asserted.