Cry of the poor

Cry of the poor

From Warta Kota

August is the month of freedom for people all over Indonesia. To commemorate Independence Day, people in the country held various contests and unfurled red-and-white flags along the alleys where they live. Many people participated in contests, grabbing a victory and maintaining sportsmanship and togetherness among themselves. People understand that freedom is the substance to begin a nation's life and they interpret it symbolically with fun games in which they can take a part.

The new administration has just been established with the support of millions of people at the grassroot level, people who have been living in poverty for decades. With nearly insensible patience, people keep waiting for a government that can listen to their heartfelt cry and feel their hardships in life.

But, what has happened? The people's dream has been shattered because of the acts taken by security and order personnel of the Jakarta regional administration, putting an end to a variety of economic activities carried out by poor people earning a living as sidewalk vendors, pedicab drivers, street vendors, buskers and the like. The city administration has beaten a drum of war against ordinary people who wish to make a living legally and sweat over a rightful job, an activity that is free from corruption.

Security forces with scores of trucks containing hundreds of public order officers, the police and the military, have trampled upon ordinary people's rights in the economic, social and cultural spheres, firing tear gas and showering rude words upon poor people.

The Jakarta regional administration has used up the city budget of Rp 102 billion to execute such acts of demolition, funds that should have been spent on creating job opportunities, facilitating the economic activities of ordinary people to get them through the prolonged multifaceted crisis. It has also spent Rp 5 billion on the expansion of the Kedoya housing building, a jail for the scavengers, tramps and sex workers they apprehend.

Where should such people go? How can they survive? Allow me to call on President Megawati, the governor of Jakarta, the leaders of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, all political and bureaucratic figures to listen to the cry of these ordinary people. Stop despotism. If the relevant parties pay no heed to this matter, it means that such parties are actually encouraging a social revolution, something that this nation might have to pay for very dearly.

WARDAH HAFIDZ

Coordinator of Urban Poor Consortium

Jakarta