Program for street kids only for show: Activist

JAKARTA (JP): A social activist gave the city administration a failing grade on Tuesday for its efforts to improve the welfare of street children included in the Rumah Singgah (sheltering) program.

Deputy executive director of the Indonesian Child Welfare Foundation (YKAI) Arum Kusumanegara said the city administration neglected the program's true mission to help the children and instead focused on its own objectives.

"The city administration has only observed the security and aesthetic aspects of the program," she told The Jakarta Post.

Political concerns appeared to be paramount in administrators' approach to the program.

"The city administration set up 43 shelters, one in every district, to foster street children whose number has been increasing due to the prolonged economic crisis, and ceaselessly launched promotions for the adoption of the sheltering program just before the June 1999 general election," Arum said.

"That's the reason why people consider the city-sponsored program was merely a political move to gain public sympathy."

With the assistance of the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations Development Program, the government allocated Rp 15 billion (US$2.14 million) through the Ministry of Social Services from the state budget to finance non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in the sheltering program nationwide.

Funds were earmarked to finance the operational expenditures and provide scholarships, counseling, nonformal education and vocational training for the street children.

As many as 11,000 children in the city were categorized as street children in 1999. They were below 16 years of age and worked as candy sellers, car cleaners, shoe-shiners and beggars.

In Jakarta, there are 61 NGOs involved in the program. Last year, they received a total of Rp 4.3 billion to run the shelters, but they could only accommodate 4,000 children.

Arum said the program was not properly managed by the city administration and only added to expenses when there were still an estimated 7,000 children still on the streets.

The program has been implemented through picking up street children and taking them to the shelters, where they received money to buy food and were allowed to stay. However, no counseling, education and training programs were provided.

Arum said the sheltering program should ideally be aimed at helping the children survive tough street life and providing them with necessary skills. "And the program should be carried out in the best interest of the children."

She urged the city administration to design a special education program and modify the existing sheltering program to suit the conditions of street children in Jakarta.

"On the streets, those children are subject to abuse and intimidation from police officers and adults."

She said she was pessimistic about an improvement in conditions because of the lack of volunteers capable of running the program, combined with poor facilities and the rigid education system.

"Unless, the new government puts more emphasis on the program's implementation, the problems will prevail."

She expected that the sheltering program would continue although the social services ministry was abolished from the current Cabinet. (06)