Poverty program alarms the poor

Poverty program alarms the poor

Hundreds of poor people from across Jakarta staged a peaceful
rally on Monday at the World Bank building, protesting an alleged
misinterpretation of the poverty alleviation program being
initiated by the World Bank (WB) and the United Nations (UN).

Wardah Hafidz from the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), the
organizer of the rally, said local administrations could
manipulate the City Alliance program, which aims to create
"prosperous cities without slums", to justify the use of violence
in controlling poor citizens.

"Such terms put urban poor people in danger, as they could be
used by local administrations to raid and relocate them out of
the cities and sanction the use of force," Wardah said.

The use of violence by the city's public order officers in
recent raids against becak (pedicab) drivers and street vendors
has been commonplace, with the city administration attempting to
rid the capital of poor people, Wardah said.

Governor Sutiyoso pledged on Friday to continue operations
aimed at maintaining order in the city amid harsh criticism from
many non-governmental organization.

"Cities without slums, jointly launched by the WB and the UN,
could worsen the situation," she said.

In light of the criticism, the WB's acting director in
Indonesia, Vikram Nehru, promised to notify both the WB and UN
headquarters of the concerns.

Vikram said his office would also ask the governor to ensure
that there would be no use of violence during the implementation
of the program.

Wardah said further discussion on the issue would be
considered on Wednesday. -- JP