Making ends meet in an East Jakarta slum
Making ends meet in an East Jakarta slum
By Des Price
JAKARTA (JP): Cipinang Besar slum acts as a base in the
capital for poor West Javanese families, with many subsidizing
their low incomes from rice growing by scavenging in the city,
where there is a plentiful supply of scrap materials.
It is home to 300 families who survive in conditions of
squalor and face dangers both known and unknown from the
environment in which they eke out their existence.
Discarded building materials lie dumped by the wayside at the
entrance to the slum. Hens and cats pick their way through the
rubbish strewn on top. Slum dwellers cautiously make their way
along the narrow muddy, uneven paths, where pools of murky water
have formed in the potholes. A large pond of dark green stagnant
water has organic and inorganic waste materials floating on its
surface. Adjacent to the pond, a river carries a torrent of
floodwater mercilessly through the slum. It has been dammed to
help prevent flooding of the dwellings.
Roofs made of rusted corrugated iron, and others of tiles,
have been patched up, and plastic bags lie over the holes, often
only secured by the weight of old bicycle tires.
On this rainy afternoon most people have taken cover, except
small children, who jump and play around excitedly in the heavy
downpour. Fishing rods lie temporarily discarded by the pond.
Teenage boys strum guitars, smoke and chat, while younger
children gather around electronic handheld games on loan to them.
Tattooed men lie around dozing, sheltered from the rain under the
overhanging roofs.
For many of the families living here, Cipinang Besar is a
second home, where they live for a period of about three months
at a time, migrating to the city from the towns of Cirebon and
Indramayu on West Java's coast. Some migrate to the city in order
to subsidize their incomes from rice farming, which can no longer
be depended on as their sole income.
They experienced difficulties making ends meet and sought
alternative means to prop up their uncertain economies. The soil
in their home areas is not very fertile, and yields and quality
of rice are therefore low.
Through living in the slum and scavenging, they are able to
get together much needed extra income, returning home to spend
the money they have earned on their extended families.
The slum dwellers are creative in their bid to remain
economically viable and find ways to make money. One woman runs a
laundry service, collecting and delivering the laundry to her
customers homes. By far the most important industry is
scavenging: right in the center of the slum there are piles of
scrap, which will be reused in some way. Old bicycle wheels will
be straightened and re-spoked; car parts will be repaired or
beaten into shape and sold.
Many families rely on collecting old discarded nails to
support themselves. Equipped with buckets and large magnets on
handles, people cycle off all over the neighborhood in search of
old nails. Each day a dealer arrives and pays Rp 400 per kilogram
for the nails.
One man relates that he and his family need to collect at
least 50 kilograms a day to make ends meet. Collecting over this
amount provides extra income, which will be used to buy little
extras, or will be taken to West Java when they return.
All around the pond there are barrels of oil, which are
purchased in bulk and then resold. The absentee owner of the
business lives in Sulawesi and five men from the slum receive
commissions on sales of the oil.
Unsanitary conditions
Some families have toilets, but the majority do not and they
attend to their bodily needs anywhere out of sight of prying
eyes. The river is so polluted that the slum dwellers were told
in 1990 that they should not even wash their clothes in it. Up
until then, some families were forced to drink the water because
there was no alternative supply.
Now, the river's only "function" is the removal of rubbish
from the site as families at the slum, as well as others living
upstream, simply throw their waste into the water. From where the
river leaves the slum, up to ten items per minute float down the
river: aerosol cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles and plastic
bags full of household refuse.
Some rubbish is burned and the air becomes filled with the
acrid smell of burning plastic and other synthetic materials.
As a woman draws well water from the ground, she explains that
some days the water is clear and palatable, other days it is
dirty brown and has a foul odor.
A community organization, Jentera Muda Jakarta, with its base
at the slum, says that health authorities have not visited the
site for many years; nobody knows if the well water is safe to
drink, or if there are other health hazards present.
Whole slum area are prone to flooding. Two dams were built to
reduce the risk of flooding, but they are not substantial enough
to deal with the floodwaters in heavy and consistent downpours.
Families living close to the river sometimes have to evacuate,
taking shelter at neighboring houses. Some dwellings are built on
stilts, but even these are prone to flood water entering the
living area. After a recent flood, a neighbor recalls that her
house was so crowded that she could not find enough room to lie
down and sleep on the floor.
On this November afternoon, after a couple of hours of rain,
the occupants of a riverside dwelling stood outside their home,
anxiously looking on, as the flood waters gradually rose up the
side of the building.
Some four years ago, the river claimed the life of a six-year-
old boy. There is still no protection from slipping down the
river's muddy banks.
A rickety wooden bridge, which links the whole slum dwelling
area, was built over the river after the drowning of the little
boy. It was felt that if there had been a bridge, rescue attempts
may have been successful. The slum dwellers also realized that,
at times, they need each other's assistance, and a bridge would
facilitate communication between them.
For the slum dwellers, the bridge is a reminder of their
vulnerability and also symbolizes the need for cooperation with
each other.