Public donations to city centers decrease sharply due to troubles
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)