'Becak' drivers yet to enjoy independence

'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.