'Becak' drivers yet to enjoy independence

By Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Fitri

JAKARTA (JP): "Being a becak driver is easy. I just have to use my muscles," said Yatim.

The 30-year-old man decided to become a becak (pedicab) driver four years ago after his hard efforts to find work proved fruitless.

Yatim, who dropped out of vocational school in his hometown in Cirebon, West Java, came to the capital 10 years ago to seek a new future.

He worked as a janitor in a state department on Jl. Gatot Soebroto, Central Jakarta, for three years before the job contract was terminated in 1997.

Being unskilled and with no capital, he was left jobless for six months. Finally, he made up his mind to drive the three- wheeled pedicab, as did some people in his neighborhood, a slum area in Gemblok, North Jakarta.

But now, a few days after a violent protest against a becak crackdown that killed a civilian guard, he worries should the administration conduct a crackdown in Gemblok market, where he and other fellow drivers operate every day.

"How will I feed my family? It's hard to get a job here," Yatim remarked.

Yatim lives by the railway line across from the Gemblok market, where he has erected a 1.5 meter by 1.5 meter shack made from cardboard. Here he lives with his wife, a baby and five rabbits.

According to a veteran driver, Suwarno, 52, becak has been in existence in the Gemblok market area since 1967.

At that time, there were only a dozen of becak in the area, but currently there are around 100 becak operating there.

Most becak drivers in the Gemblok market area come from Tegal and Brebes in Central Java as well as from Cirebon.

So far, the administration has never conducted a becak raid in the area, although Bylaw No. 11/1988 bans them from the city.

In 1998, however, Governor Sutiyoso said that becak could operate in certain parts of the city.

He retracted the statement the following day, but the news had already reached hundreds of kilometers away and many becak drivers started to come to the capital.

Since then, the city administration and the becak drivers, who gained support from the Urban Poor Consortium, have been engaged in a tug of war. While the becak drivers persist in maintaining their existence in the city, the government tries to drive them out.

The drivers insist that they need a job to survive and they believe it is their right to work as a becak driver in the city.

"I only ask to be allowed to peddle my becak in the housing complexes or around the market, as I do now. Is that too much to ask?" Suwarno asked.

He said becak drivers did not believe in the administration's promise to help them change their profession.

The administration once promised to give some capital and driver licenses to those who wanted to become bajaj (three- wheeled motor vehicle) drivers.

"But it was only an empty promise," said Suwarno.

Suwarno did not agree with the criticism that his job was "inhumane", arguing that the drivers peddle the pedicab, which has wheels and chains, they don't push it like a rickshaw.

He also denied the accusation that becak was a source of traffic jams, pointing out that there were traffic jams in some major thoroughfares where there are no becak.

"We only want to do a halal job, we don't want to be thieves or robbers," he asserted.

Comfort

Meanwhile, Marni, a housewife living about 500 meters from Gemblok market, said that she always goes to the market by becak because the fare was cheap.

She felt that becak helped her, particularly after she shopped in the market, since she did not have to carry the heavy shopping bags home.

"It only costs Rp 1,000 for such a convenience," she remarked.

Most becak drivers in Gemblok market area earn between Rp 10,000 to Rp 15,000 a day.

They rent the becak for Rp 3,500 a day from the owner, who usually owns between five to 10 becak.

The drivers work seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Their passengers are the residents around Gemblok market. One has to pay Rp 1,000 for a short route of less than one kilometer. The fares are quite low as even the residents around the area are from lower income groups.

Becak are also found in some other parts of the city, like in Bendungan Hilir, Central Jakarta, where middle-and-higher income people live.

Yanto, 27, went to Jakarta to leave behind hardship in his village in Pati, East Java.

"It's really hard to earn a living in my village. I didn't continue my school because I didn't want to burden my parents," he said, adding that people in the village make meager income from farming and fishing.

When he arrived in the capital in 1994, his first job was as a shop attendant at a drug store in Glodok West Jakarta. At that time, he earned Rp 200,000 a month.

Since then, Yanto has had two or three different jobs, before finally in 1998, his friend offered him a job as a becak driver around the Bendungan Hilir market, Central Jakarta.

"I was hooked to the profession the minute my friend offered me the job. I think being a becak driver is really cool. I can be my own boss," he said smiling broadly.

Yanto got his first becak by renting it from the owner. But later on, he bought it out of his own savings for Rp 600,000.

He said that he can pocket between Rp 20,000 to Rp 30,000 a day.

Apparently, for Yanto being a becak driver is not just a job, it is a career.

"If someday I have money and an opportunity for a 'decent' job, I won't give up my profession as a becak driver," said Yanto.

His love for his job also gives him courage. He was not afraid when he came face to face with the city's security and public order officers in a becak crackdown.

"I'm not doing anything wrong. I don't kill or steal," he said.

But, his choice of career was not without a cost. He separated from his wife because she wanted him to have a more stable job.

"I couldn't always bring home money. So, she decided to go back to her parents in the village and took my son with her," Yanto said bitterly.

Support

He also lamented the lack of support from the government.

Hundreds of becak drivers staged a rally on Wednesday at the North Jakarta mayoralty office and also in front of the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-Perjuangan) headquarters in Central Jakarta.

"It claimed to be the poor people's party, but it was only words," said one of them.

The becak drivers felt that the administration hated poor people so much, that it felt compelled to conduct becak raid ahead of the 56th Independence Day.

"Independence only caters to the haves, not for the poor people like us," he concluded.

As for the city administration, it is quite clear. The law bans becak from the capital and governor Sutiyoso has declared war against becak. This time, he and his officers, backed by the police, want to show the public that they will uphold the law at whatever cost.