Ledok Code, portrait of an ever-changing kampong

Ledok Code, portrait of an ever-changing kampong

Text and photos by R. Fadjri

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The sun has just dipped below the horizon and
the Gondolayu bridge in Yogyakarta is still filled with traffic.
Below, the Code River cuts across the city's center and children
can be seen rushing along the alleys separating the rows of small
houses east of the river.

Tucking their school books under their arms, the children head
towards a building in the middle of their kampong. There is a
sudden quietness, as if something extraordinary was about to take
place. The usually blaring of hundreds of TV sets can no longer
be heard.

The children are going to a study group. Anywhere else this is
a common, daily activity. In Ledok Code, however, it reflects the
area's development in the past 10 years.

Every night from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. the children are obliged to
study in a meeting hall and a youth center. It has been agreed
that during the one-hour study period no one is allowed to turn
their television on.

No less than 50 primary and junior high school children are
tutored by five students from the Tarakanita Social Welfare
Academy in Yogyakarta who have been assigned to help the Code
community.

"We understand that if there is even one TV on that hour, the
children will not join the study group," explained Adi
Suprayitno, the head of security in Code.

According to Adi, children prefer TV to studying and to
support the tutoring program all Code residents agreed to turn
off their TV sets during that short hour.

Ledok Code, a slum area transformed into a kampong, has
continued to attract public attention. Any first-timer passing
over the bridge will surely notice the groups of simple houses
with Javanese and Toraja A-shaped roofs.

The houses are an average of 28-square-meter wide but none are
the same height because they are built on the 45 degree bank of
the river.

People don't live here by choice, they live here because it is
the only place they can find. Adi Suprayitno, 54, is a father of
one and occupies an 18-square-meter structure with a bedroom
measuring three square meters wide. His only child sleeps on five
planks stretched across the room. The living room can only
accommodate a long bench, two chairs and a small table. The
kitchen is a half meter lower than the rest of the house.

All the houses are simple, like in other kampongs in
Indonesia's large cities. A half-meter high brick wall serves as
a foundation for plaited bamboo walls supporting cheap tile or
corrugated iron roofs. There are also some two-story houses
facing west with shutters designed to open upwards to prevent the
midday sun from coming in. The various designs and colors of the
plaited bamboo walls make the houses unique. They are proof that
even the poorest can create richly detailed architectural
designs.

Everything is quite orderly in Ledok Code. The simple
orderliness is a far cry from the usual shabbiness that usually
characterizes a slum area. Walking down its small stone alleys,
is not suffocating because there are plenty of open spaces among
the small houses, including washing spaces and water supply
centers. Air circulates freely and even on the hottest day the
sun has a hard time stinging the inhabitants.

There are 41 families, comprising a total of 197 people,
living in Ledok Code. Their jobs vary from scavengers to security
guards, pedicab drivers to food sellers. On average they earn
between Rp 100,000 and Rp 150,000 a month. From the Gondolayu
bridge TV antennas can be seen sprouting from the houses, an
indication of the economic condition of the inhabitants.

The 15,000-square-meter kampong was initially a slum area
where those people isolated from the rest of society lived,
including beggars and prostitutes. It was also a hideout for
criminals.

"Whenever a theft was reported around Gondolayu, Code (people)
became the suspects," said Adi, who has been living in the area
since 1978.

Then, residents lived in houses made of cardboard and plastic
along the riverbank or right on the edge. Each rainy season the
houses were carried away by floods, usually when the residents
were fast asleep. Human casualties were common.

Like other slums, Ledok Code seems to grow at night. It is no
wonder that none of the occupants had ID cards.

The Yogyakarta municipal administration started to pay
attention to the area in 1977. A program called Tri Bina, or the
three development schemes, was launched to help the people,
develop their economic activities and better the environment. The
activities included the eradication of illiteracy and training in
various skills. With time, changes were apparent but the slum
continued to look shabby.

Noting the slow progress, Yusuf Bilyarta Mangunwijaya, a
Catholic priest and architect, was compelled to help improve
conditions in Code. Romo Mangun, as he is popularly called, left
his church activities and moved to Code to live among the people.

Slowly, things changed. Romo Mangun designed the houses and,
employing a concept he calls Konsep Pemukiman Kooperatif Gotong
Royong Pancasila (The Pancasila Cooperative Residential Concept),
he tried to intervene in the city development concept which he
felt was biased against the lowest strata who did not have access
to land. The concept aims to enable low-income people access to
housing and employment in the city.

Romo Mangun encouraged every Code occupant to be committed to
the program. Each family was involved in the construction and
funding of their houses, which were supported by outside
financial aid. His success in transforming Code into a better
residential area was recognized with the 1992 Aga Khan Award.

"We are very proud to receive the international award," said
Adi.

Physical development was followed by socio-economic
improvement. The inhabitants were trained in various skills to
help increase their incomes. Today there are 11 vehicle repair
and tire shops in the area. Aside from that, with cooperation
with Suara Pembaruan afternoon daily, each family earns Rp 200 a
copy for selling the newspaper. Children who sell the newspaper
receive Rp 15,000 a month from the newspaper.

Such changes improve the living standard of Code people.
Today, all the children go to school. The average educational
level is high school and after that they usually join the work
force. Besides, since 1981 all residents have had ID cards, a
real achievement considering that they were previously considered
illegal residents. They also pay taxes.

Setting up the neighborhood was a recognition of normal life
that Romo Mangun dreamed of.

However, the government continues to consider Ledok Code a
temporary residential area. The government argues that if the
area becomes permanent, the residents will always face the threat
of flooding. The government wants the people to transmigrate.

But Code residents and Romo Mangun have decided to stay. They
insist that the threat of flooding was eliminated with the
construction of a four-meter high dam along the river banks. Romo
Mangun, wanting to prove to the government that flooding was no
longer a threat, lived in a house right on top of the dam for
three years.

Today, it isn't the floods which make the people want to move
out, but a wish for better living conditions.

"We still want to live in a better environment," said Hadi,
another Code resident. "If there was a credit offer to buy a
simple house, I would leave," he said, adding that with such a
small house his guests cannot stay overnight.

However, it is not a matter of simply living in a better
place. Most Code occupants work in the informal sector in the
city. If they move out of town, they will face the problem of
transportation.

Code's success story has also attracted public attention.
Researchers, students, officials and tourists can be seen walking
through Code's narrow alleys. Aid, too, has flooded into the
kampong. Every Idul Fitri and Christmas, gifts, both from the
government and the private sector, flow into the homes of Code
people. Such treatment has started to raise concern.

"Excessive attention and incessant flow of aid will spoil
them," said a noted personality who asked to remain anonymous.

He added that the excessive attention has made life abnormal
for Code people, and runs contrary to the upgrading program which
aimed to help them live a normal life. Code people are very
conscious that they are a center of attention and have become
very expert in dealing with outsiders.

A number of Code people interviewed by The Jakarta Post
demonstrated their expertise in handling questions. Like a
cassette, they parrot all the right responses. They sound like
civil servants delivering a development program report to
government officials in Jakarta.

This is the flip side of the success story. Code has become a
model for kampong development. As a result, it lures people to
witness, enjoy and study it like they would a strange object.
Anticipating this impact would have forced the Code people to pay
for the development they enjoy themselves.

It is getting near 8 p.m. and the children in the study groups
are getting fidgety. Their tutors understand only too well that
it is time they ended their class. After shouting their thank
you's, the children run home to continue watching TV.