City to build dorm for street children

City to build dorm for street children

JAKARTA: The city administration plans to build a dormitory in
Rawabuaya, West Jakarta, for street children, an official said.

The head of psychological services at the City Welfare Agency,
Syarifuddin Mahfudz, said the dormitory would be able to house
between 600 children and 1,000 children.

"We hope construction of the dormitory will be completed by
the end of this year," Mahfudz said.

He said the administration also would pay to send the children
to school, the city-owned news portal beritajakarta.com reported
on Thursday.

Mahfudz also said the children's parents would be given Rp
500,000 (US$58.80) each in start-up capital for their own home
businesses.

Many street children were forced to drop out of school so they
could find work to help support their families. -- JP