Poor people swamp Bogor council building

About 100 beggars, homeless people, pedicab drivers and other poor residents gathered at the Bogor City Council building on Tuesday to receive donations from the Golkar Party, only to be told that there were no donations.

The crowd arrived at about 10 a.m. armed with fliers that carried a message that they could be exchanged for Rp 50,000, three items of clothing, two boxes of instant noodles and five kilograms of rice.

The town councillors, especially those from the Golkar faction, were caught off guard by the appearance of the crowd.

The secretary of the Golkar faction, Gatut Susanta, said his party did not distribute the leaflets.

Ani, 52, a beggar, said she received the leaflet on Monday evening from a man dressed like a local official.

"He gave me Rp 3,000 for transportation home and told me to come here the next day to receive the donation from Golkar," she said.

According to the leaflets, supposedly signed by the chairman of Golkar's central board in Bogor, HR Syamsudin, and his secretary Gunarto, the donations were in observance of the fasting month of Ramadhan and to thank the people for continuing to trust Golkar as a party sensitive to social issues.--JP