Govt provides Rp 12 billiion for street children program

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Social Services has allocated Rp 12 billion (US$1.33 million) to a city program helping street children in the capital, Governor Sutiyoso said on Friday.

"The allocation will supplement funds from the city budget and other sources, including aid from the Asian Development Bank, to finance the program helping street children," Sutiyoso said in a meeting with chief editors and senior journalists at the Antara building on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan, Central Jakarta.

The city administration recently established a team to address problems faced by street children. One of the project's goals is to provide needy children with skills which would be of use to them in the future.

The team members include representatives from the city police, the social service agency and the city offices of the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Manpower.

"We plan to go all-out in this program...and not to do this half-heartedly," the governor said, adding that older children, who badly needed jobs, would be given the opportunity to participate in training courses to improve job-related skills, while small children would be sent to school.

In the past, authorities making sweeps to pick up street children usually detained them for three or four days in a boarding house, he said. Now the city plans to accommodate them at a shelter, where they can receive training for various useful skills.

The city estimates that as many as 9,000 street children currently roam the capital, begging from passing motorists and selling newspapers to earn a living.

Sutiyoso said the street children program was only one of many city projects being conducted to improve Jakarta's image.

The capital was put in the international spotlight during the May riots in which over 1,200 people were killed and thousands of building were damaged or destroyed.

Other programs include renovations of damaged buildings and morale-boosting efforts in slum areas in cooperation with local ulemas, he said. (hhr)