Public donations to city centers decrease sharply due to troubles
JAKARTA (JP): The country's acute economic problems and seemingly never-ending protests have affected almost all activities, including social service centers.
Catering to the city's needy -- such as abandoned babies, orphans, senior citizens and the mentally ill -- the centers have said they are facing their worst financial difficulties in decades.
Public donations, the life vein of many of the city's centers, have dropped as much as 90 percent over the past few months, operators told The Jakarta Post yesterday.
Worse yet, the city administration is on the brink of being unable to provide monthly funding, which has also been decreased.
The centers are recording significant increases in the number of people seeking their services at the same time their funds are drying up.
Dozens of residents at the Bhakti Mulya 01 nursing home in Cipayung, East Jakarta, went without breakfast one morning when the center experienced a shortfall of funds.
"Last month's riots worsened our financial problems. We haven't received even a single donation since then," Toha Istad, head of the nursing home, said.
In normal times, the home could count on at least five wealthy individuals or groups to provide donations to help finance health care, maintenance and food needs for its 65 residents, he said.
Regular donators included Buddhist temples and the Dharmais Foundation, chaired by former president Soeharto.
The nursing home is now fully relying on a monthly fund of Rp 7 million (US$500) provided by the City Social Welfare Agency.
"The fund is far from enough for our routine needs of some Rp 9.75 million per month," Toha said.
The Harapan Sentosa 02 center for 290 mentally disabled people in Cipayung is experiencing many of the same problems.
No donations have been given to the center over the last two months and City Social Services Agency funds were witheld without explanation.
"The number of patients here has increased from 220 to 290, which is too much since this center is designed to accommodate only 200 people," Supranowo, an employee at the center, said.
Even if the center received the city fund, which averages Rp 2,000 per resident per day, the management had no idea how to buy enough food on such a budget, he said.
Supranowo said the center was receiving some help from regular donators, including the Women's International Club, Kasih Abadi Christian foundation and some neighborhood Koranic recital groups.
"They regularly provide us with foodstuffs, sanitary equipment, money for the salaries of two social workers and spiritual assistance," he said.
R. Hassan, who heads the Bina Remaja Putra Utama 01 orphanage in Cawang, worried that the center's 105 orphans, aged between 10 and 21, would suffer from serious malnutrition if they were forced to continually eat nutritionally poor meals due to the lack of available funds.
"Our funds were limited even before the crisis. With a budget of Rp 2,000 per person per day, it's rare for the children to have eggs and meat in their daily meal," he said.
Hassan said the monthly fund from the City Social Services Agency was cut in April from Rp 9.5 million to Rp 7.4 million.
The orphanage also received Rp 1.5 million from the Dharmais Foundation every month.
"But there is uncertainty whether the foundation will continue to provide the fund due to the political situation. So we are now relying only on the city's fund," he said.
The head of the City's Social Welfare Agency, Emon Setia Sumantri, admitted that funds for the needy were limited.
"Moreover, we have not received funds from the city administration for the 1998/1999 fiscal year city budget, which is usually disbursed in May.
"There is uncertainty whether the amount will still be the same as last year or if it will be decreased in line with the drop in the city budget," he said.
The budget for the 25 city-owned social service centers, like the previous budget, is Rp 4.5 billion. The finances are also allocated to 95 private orphanages.
In past years, the city provided Rp 2,000 per person to the city-owned centers and Rp 1,000 per person to the private orphanages.
Emon also emphasized the fact that public donations had dried up due to the economic turmoil.
"There's nothing the centers can do except work hard to find public donations," he said.
Most social workers are unsure where they will find the finances to keep their operations running over the next few months. Many said they prayed to God that donations would somehow come in.
"We just hope for God's help while we try to make do with what we get," Suparsih, head of the Tunas Bangsa 01 orphanage in Cipayung, said.
Donations to the center, which houses orphans under the age of five, dropped drastically after last month's riots since many of its donors were victims of the unrest, she said. (ind)