Government to help 13m homeless families

Antara, Surabaya

The cash-strapped government is aiming high. Vice President Hamzah Haz said on Saturday that it intended to help 13.2 million slum dwellers find decent housing by 2010.

He said that 4.3 million families were homeless. "This is a big number. The government and the community should pay serious attention to this problem," he said.

Hamzah made the statement when launching a campaign to overcome the problem of poor housing in Nginden Jangkungan village, Sukolilo subdistrict, near Surabaya in conjunction with commemoration of 2001 World Habitat Day.

Hamzah said that poverty had driven people to the cities to try their luck in urban centers, where they create slums.

"They put high hope of earning a living in the cities. Many of them end up occupying prohibited areas which can endanger themselves and their families, such as on state land along railway tracks."

He said the demand for decent housing had been increasing since the outbreak of social conflicts over the past three years in various areas throughout Indonesia, and that the government would have to provide decent shelter for people displaced by unrest.

According to official figures, 1.3 million people have been displaced due to various conflicts.

"The refugees also yearn for normal lives and have decent housing to resume their normal socioeconomic lives," Hamzah said as quoted by Antara.

Hamzah, who is also chairman of the United Development Party, said the government needed to improve the welfare of the people who had been resettled.