Poor residents want capital for business, not rice

JAKARTA (JP): Residents of Kali Baru subdistrict in North Jakarta, one of the city's poorest areas, have asked the city administration to give them capital to start business ventures instead of staple food packages.

Speaking with The Jakarta Post on Sunday minutes before receiving donations of rice from the administration, residents said that food aid could only bring temporary relief to difficulties brought upon them by the economic crisis.

"I think it would be better if the authorities thought about our future rather than distributing food like this, which will be finished in three days," Darinah, a local resident who works at a nearby fish farm, said.

Darinah, 40, a fisherman's widow and mother of six children, recalled that the economic downturn had sparked an increase in the price of goods and services and led to the closure of many businesses run by poor people.

She said she had been unable to sell fruit from her cart for over four months due to a lack of capital.

"If the administration could loan us a certain amount of money, say Rp 200,000 or Rp 300,000, to restart our businesses, then we could repay the money over a certain period of time," Darinah said.

She said fresh capital would then help her to feed her six children while the economic crisis continues.

"Working as a fruit vendor would make it easier for me to feed my family because I could bring home about Rp 20,000 a day," she explained.

She currently earns a maximum of Rp 10,500 per day shelling mollusks at a nearby fish farm.

"I get paid Rp 3,500 per bucket. I can only shell two or three buckets in a day." Darinah said.

'Pepes tahu'

Many other Kali Baru families agreed that fresh capital would be of more use than handouts of rice.

Ijah said she badly needed new capital to continue her business selling pepes tahu (tofu mixed with egg and vegetables roasted and wrapped in banana leaf) and oncom (fermented soybean) at a nearby market.

"I don't mean that I am not happy about receiving donations of food.

We're very grateful, but the city administration should also think of other ways to help us beat the crisis," said Ijah, a mother of four children who spends her spare time washing clothes for a wealthy family who live near by.

Darinah and Ijah were among representatives of 2,050 Kali Baru families invited to receive a 10 kilogram package of rice from the city's Deputy Governor for Social Welfare Affairs Djailani at a ceremony held on Sunday. The rice was donated by the city administration and Jakarta's Care Team led by noted businesswoman Siti Hartati Murdaya.

When asked to comment on the local people's suggestion, Djailani said the administration had been planning to help small enterprises through a loan assistance program until the economic crisis hit the country.

"We were distracted by the economic crisis, which has left many people without enough food to eat.

"The adverse conditions have forced us to give top priority to meeting the people's needs," Djailani explained, adding that he hoped the program could begin after the crisis comes to an end.

City administration data shows that around 16 percent of Kali Baru's 47,379 residents are living below the poverty line.

Hartati admitted that the food donation program could do nothing to help the poor in the long run.

"I realize that we are only giving 'fish' to the people, but we hope to be able to give them a 'hook and line' in the future," she said. (ind)