Lepers on the roads as beggars

PADANG, West Java: A senior local official has sensed something fishy about the many beggars roaming the city streets.

Chief of the local social service office, Burhanuddin, said on Saturday he suspected the lepers were organized by some syndicate that "sells" others' misery.

"They (the lepers) are taken in vans and dropped at main streets corners in the morning and picked up in the evening," he said, Antara reported.

He said the authorities would not tolerate the lepers' exploiters because not only do they sell others' suffering but they also tarnish the city's image as a clean and orderly capital.

All the lepers come from poor families and they are easily lured into making money on the streets without working hard, he said. "In fact it is the crime syndicate that enjoys the money." (pan)