Boardinghouse business, humanism or profit?

Boardinghouse business, humanism or profit?

JAKARTA (JP): The economic crisis, which has gripped the
country for almost a year, has brought uncertainty to almost all
businesses, including the rented accommodation sector.

Operating boarding houses, one of several alternative ways to
seek an immediate revenue from one's investment, is not as rosy
as before the Indonesian economy began collapsing last July.

Sutrisno, an operator of 30 boarding house rooms in the
Jakarta suburb of Depok, said recently that it was now common for
him to hear many of the tenants asking to postpone paying their
rent.

He told The Jakarta Post that he set the rents at an average
of Rp 200,000 (US$14) per room per month.

Sutrisno, whose boarding house complex is located close to the
University of Indonesia and other private universities, said he
was trying to understand his tenants' difficulties as not all of
them came from rich or well-paid families.

"I knew that they were serious in their study. Therefore, I
sometimes gave them loose deadlines," he said about the tenants,
who are all university students.

However, Sutrisno is considered a lucky person in the business
as most of the tenants keep their promises and eventually pay
their rent.

"Although they were well behind the deadline, they still paid
the rent," he said.

A woman, operating a small boarding house complex in Slipi
subdistrict, West Jakarta, is not as lucky as Sutrisno.

Having only four rooms for lease, she said that she had to
rely on the rents for her income. She sets the rent at Rp 100,000
per month per room.

However, the economic crisis has also struck her business and
forced her to forget all ideas about making a profit from the
business.

"All the tenants, and they're all university students, are
three to four months behind the payment deadline now," she said.

A widow of four grown-up children, she said that she did not
even have the heart to ask them to leave.

"They have been staying at my boarding houses for almost two
years now," she said, "And I would feel uneasy about asking them
to leave."

"I do not want my children to experience the same feeling,
that if they manage to go to university someday they are forced
to leave their rented rooms if they cannot meet the deadline,"
she said.

Her oldest child, a daughter, is now studying at a nearby high
school. Her three other children are at junior high school and
elementary school.

She said that she did not either have the heart to increase
the rents to Rp 125,000 per month, which would still be the
lowest among nearby boarding houses. Others charge at least Rp
200,000 per unit per month.

"It already takes them months to try to comply with the
deadlines. I cannot imagine how will be able to pay the rent if I
increase the fees," she said.

She said she could now only pray for an immediate end to the
economic crisis.

The boarding-house business is also gloomy for Lisma, the
owner of a 10-room complex in Pasar Minggu subdistrict, South
Jakarta, whose tenants are mostly workers.

She said that she had just had to insist three of the tenants
leave the boarding house.

"It's still better for me to have them leave the boarding
houses and keep the rooms vacant than to let them stay, as I have
to bear all of the costs, including the electricity bills," she
said.

Lisma sets different rates for different sizes of rooms. She
has three types of accommodation to rent; the smallest ones are
leased at Rp 200,000 per unit per month, the medium ones for Rp
250,000 per unit per month and the biggest at Rp 300,000 per unit
per month. (imn)