Jababeka holds bazaar for poor neighbors
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After queuing for almost half an hour, Aminah, 34, received a ticket to buy a package of basic commodities in a bazaar at the Jababeka Industrial Estate in Cikarang, Bekasi, West Java on Sunday.
"Thank God, I can buy rice, cooking oil and sugar for only Rp 20,000. This will really relieve the burden on us for at least a week. I wish that I could buy more packages for the Idul Fitri celebration," she told The Jakarta Post.
Aminah, who lives with her husband and three children near the industrial estate, was just one of thousands of poor families who flocked to the bazaar to buy basic commodity packages at heavily discounted prices on Sunday.
Each package contained two kilograms of sugar, five kilograms of rice, two liters of cooking oil, one can of milk and five packages of instant noodle.
The market prices of the goods was Rp 50,000 (US$5), but they were sold for just Rp 20,000.
Each family was entitled to buy one package and had to show a document that confirmed their poverty.
By Sunday evening, the 13-day bazaar, which President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened last Oct. 12, had sold 9,500 packages. The proceeds would be used to buy basic commodities to be distributed free of charge to poor families living in three districts surrounding the Jababeka Industrial Estate.
Aside from the packages, the bazaar also offered low-priced goods, including clothes, shoes and housewares in over 100 booths.
Jababeka corporate marketing manager Agus H. Canny said the bazaar was part of the solidarity programs launched by Susilo to help the poor.
"All packages in the bazaar were contributed by businesspeople in the industrial estate. This is the medium by which wealthy people can help the less fortunate. With this bazaar, we hope we can help poor people to cope with fuel price hike," he told the Post.
"We subsidized the bazaar with Rp 1.2 billion so far. We intend to make the bazaar an annual event so that we can continue helping the poor each year," he said.
The government and private sector have joined hands in helping poor families, which according to a report number around 40 million, to ease the bite of the fuel price increases of Oct. 1.
Each of the five municipalities in Jakarta have also been organizing bazaars to help the poor.
In Depok, West Java, the local trade and industry agency are holding bazaars in seven subdistricts from Oct. 17 to Oct. 26.
"This is a routine event for us. We want to help the poor during Ramadhan," said Amanullah Sarwi, head of the business education and consumer protection section at the agency.
He said that his office has provided 240 kilograms of sugar, 240 kilograms of cooking oil, 45 boxes of instant noodle, 192 tins of milk, 240 boxes of detergent and 240 bottles of ketchup for each bazaar.