Raids do little to restore order: Activists

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Intensive crackdowns on beggars and other people living on the street during Ramadhan has done little to restore order in the city. Instead, the raids are apparently worsening the administration's fading credibility, activists said.

Azas Tigor Nainggolan of Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) and Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto of Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) said the administration under Governor Sutiyoso had failed to address the real problems.

"It is not the presence of the beggars and others who earn their living from the street which becomes a problem to the city. But the city has to find out what brought these people to the street and how to provide a way out," Tigor told The Jakarta Post last weekend.

He argued that the prolonged economic crisis had increased the number of low-income people, not only in Jakarta, but all over the country. A large portion of Jakartans migrated to the capital from other areas for economic reasons.

Since the beginning of Ramadhan on Nov. 6, the Public Order officers have rounded up hundreds of beggars, prostitutes, transvestites, lepers and street singers -- whom the government labeled as people with community and social problems (PMKS).

Almost 500 people have been put in the jail-like Kedoya rehabilitation center in West Jakarta, a transitory shelter, where they are held before being sent either back to their home villages or to an alternate institution.

In Kedoya, the "detainees" get little help or rehabilitiation, and eventually most will end up back on the streets. Worse, people who do not fall under the PMKS category may be arrested if they do not have a valid Jakarta resident's ID card.

"Such raids without a follow up or controlling measures are pointless, and only create an opportunity for violence when people are sent to Kedoya or being deported home," Tubagus remarked in a separate interview with the Post.

Tubagus and Tigor suspected the raids were nothing more than a lucrative project as there is a huge amount of money allocated for the operations.

Last year, the city budget set aside Rp 40 billion for the City Public Order Agency while this year, it increased to Rp 63.55 billion.

Tigor suggested that the agency should instead spend most of that budget to provide real help for the urban poor and to empower them as a humane approach to resolve the poverty problems in the capital, a condition which makes the city prone to crime.

While Tubagus added that instead of using the money to crackdown the poor, it would be better to spend it to campaign on how to be good, productive Jakarta residents and help them lead a decent life. He referred to the fact that the city administration refused to legally recognize the rights of people who do not have a Jakarta ID card despite the fact that some have been here for years.

The city administration conducts the raids based on the city Bylaw No. 11/1988.

According to the law, the violator could face a maximum of three months imprisonment or maximum fine of Rp 50,000. But legal processes rarely occur following the raids. In many cases, the people are released after paying bribes.

Fakta submitted an alternative draft to the council last May, but there has not been a response to it as yet.

Bylaw No. 11/1988 on Public Order in Jakarta

Article 22: Any individual/body is banned from asking for aid or contribution using any means and any excuse, either individually or collectively on the street, in public transportation, at houses, offices or other public places without written permission from the Governor.

Article 23: Any person who suffers from a disease which annoys city scenery and causes uneasiness in the community are forbidden to be on the street, green belts of the city, parks and public area.