Independence, yes but economically -- not yet

Independence, yes but economically -- not yet

T.Sima Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta

It was Thursday afternoon at around 3 p.m. and the sun was
still shining brightly. A young man walked slowly along the road
in a housing complex in Bintaro, Tangerang, pushing a cart loaded
with red-and-white flags and bamboo poles.

Rohim, 24, is one of many seasonal vendors who try their luck
selling flags and poles for people to hoist on Independence Day.

He left his hometown in Babakan village of Cirebon, West Java,
on Sunday hoping he would be able to earn a handsome sum of
money.

"But I have been here for five days and so far I have only
made Rp 40,000 (less than US$5)," he said sighing.

"Today I sold only four bamboo poles and a single flag," he
said. He is selling bamboo poles for Rp 7,500 each while a large-
size flag costs Rp 30,000, but the buyers can also bargain. Most
of the profit, however, goes to his boss.

Rohim, who normally works as a farmer, knows his boss from his
neighborhood in Cirebon, who is also in Jakarta selling flags and
poles. Rohim has been a seasonal vendor here for the past four
years.

Independence Day gives Rohim a chance to make more than the Rp
5,000 he makes a day working on the fields in his village. He
lives with his mother, who does not work, and the money is barely
enough to cover their daily needs.

"There was a time when I did not eat for three days because I
had no money at all," said Rohim, who dropped out of elementary
school.

He said he often ate only once a day.

Once every two months, he said, he and his mother were
entitled to receive aid from the government in the form of cheap
rice.

It was only three kilograms of rice and it was not free.
"Let's say, if the market price is Rp 2,500 per kilogram, then we
only had to pay Rp 1,500 a kilogram," he said.

For Rohim and many other poor people, events like Independence
Day can give them much-needed extra income, even if it is only
for three or four days.

For them, the fact the fight for independence cost thousands
of lives is just a historical fact.

For although Indonesia has been politically free from the
control of foreign nations for 59 years, its founding fathers'
goal for the people to prosper under an equitable system is still
a dream.

Official reports say the number of poor people has dropped
dramatically from 23.4 percent in 1999 to 18.2 percent in 2002
and 17.4 percent in 2003; about 37.50 million people. However,
social workers say that many people, both in rural and urban
areas, find that life remains hard -- if not harder -- than
before.

Wardah Hafidz from the Urban Poor Consortium observed that
while the lives of middle and upper income people might have
improved there had been no parallel improvement in the lives of
those without.

"The shopping malls may be crowded, luxury cars may sell well
and restaurants may be packed, but low-income people still lead a
hard life," she said.

Wardah criticized the government for implementing policies
that marginalized the poor. Regional governments were actually
fighting against poor people, not poverty, while the central
government was blind to their condition, she said.

A clear example of this was the city administration's policy
of evicting sidewalk vendors who were cluttering streets.

Instead of helping those in the informal sector, the
authorities had deprived them of the right to make a living
without providing alternatives. As a result those who were poor
became poorer, she said.

"The state has gained its independence, but not the people -
they are not free to work to fulfill their daily needs," she
said. Wardah also opposed Jakarta's policy to upgrade the old
becak (three-wheeled motorcycle cabs) in the city.

The government, she said, should accept the reality that 80
percent of the labor force was employed in the informal sector.
The informal sector should be included in the whole economic
system, she said.

Wardah noted that in the rural areas, farmers often suffered
because they had no choice but to sell their harvests cheaply
following the government's failure to stabilize prices for farm
goods. Even worse, the government was allowing imported rice to
flood the market, she said.

Indonesia gained its Independence in 1945. The nation is free
from colonialism but many people can not enjoy any real freedom
because they are imprisoned in poverty. While many may celebrate
Independence Day cheerfully with carnivals and festivals, parties
and games, others are still struggling to survive.

When Rohim was asked what Independence Day meant to him, he
just stared blankly. Asked what he would wish for on the day, his
answer was surprising. He did not say that he wanted to be a rich
man with a lot of money, a car or a house. He said softly he just
wanted to live peacefully.

Poverty is a complicated problem, difficult to solve, and it
might be impossible to completely eradicate it. But at least, it
could be alleviated if the government was really serious about
helping the poor.

"What we need is the government's political will to solve the
problem," Wardah said.