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)