City urged to act on fund raising on buses
City urged to act on fund raising on buses
JAKARTA (JP): City Council Speaker M.H. Ritonga has urged the
city administration to take action against people who ask for
money on public buses.
Ritonga said yesterday that the practice violates a provincial
decree and that punitive measures are necessary.
"Firm action should be taken immediately because they disturb
passengers as well as traffic," Ritonga said.
According to provincial decree No.11/1988, individuals and
groups are not allowed to ask for contributions in public places,
including public buses.
"The activity could also damage the reputation of Jakarta. The
administration's prompt attention would be appreciated," he said.
Ritonga's statement came in response to the growing number of
complaints about people roaming the streets and climbing onto
public buses to ask for contributions for the building of mosques
and orphanages, usually in Bogor, Tangerang or Bekasi.
Muchtar Natsir, an official from the Jakarta branch of the
Indonesian Ulemas Council, added that the public should ignore
illegal "levy collectors".
Natsir said that people are not obliged to give the collectors
anything, and warned of possible scams.
"Just ignore them because not all of them are really using the
money to build religious facilities. I have checked some of the
letters of recommendation and found that some had even expired,"
Natsir said.
He explained that religious organizations here generally
submit their proposals to the religious affairs ministry's
Jakarta office when they need funds for building purposes.
If the office does not have enough the funding it will submit
the proposal to the ministry, explained Natsir.
"In short, the government has created a mechanism and the
public is urged to donate their funds to the correct institution,
such as the religious affairs ministry," he said.
Many have also been complaining about door-to-door fund
collecting. Last year, 170 Japanese businesses lodged complaints
with the police`. (yns)