More street kids in Ambon

More street kids in Ambon

AMBON, Maluku: Evidence of the deepening impact of the crisis
was revealed here yesterday when it was disclosed that the number
of street kids in the city had nearly doubled in the past five
months.

The local office of the Ministry of Social Affairs said in
February there were 286 known streets children in the provincial
capital. Now there are more than 500.

These numbers are a significant jump from September 1997 when
there were 211 children living on the streets.

Fachri Siregar, head of the social affairs office, said
yesterday that it was especially concerning compared to other
cities in the country in terms of the size of the population.

He said that street kids now make up 0.17 percent of the total
population of Ambon which is 289,000.

As a comparison, in Bandung, West Java, the 3,000 street
children make up only 0.03 percent of the total population of
eight million, Antara reported.

Fachri said the primary reason for the sharp rise was the
worsening economic situation in the province.