Regrettable report on urban poor

Regrettable report on urban poor

We would like to express our appreciation for your March 30
coverage on the visit of urban poor communities to the World Bank
office -- WB urged to postpone aid package on Page 3. However,
there are some very disturbing details that we would like to
clarify.

* The Jakarta Post wrote: "The protesters, who she (Wardah
Hafidz) said had received Rp 5,000 food allowance and 'extra
money' for their transportation each from her, greeted her with
applause."

The information is grossly wrong and misleading. The context
of the information was a question from your reporter about the
Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) and its activities, and I explained
that all of us are volunteers, except for the staff in the
secretariat (one secretary and one housekeeper) and the community
organizers.

The community organizers do not receive a salary but do get Rp
5,000 food allowance/meal (Rp 15,000/day), housing allowance
(between Rp 55,000 and Rp 75,000/month), reimbursement for actual
transport (nontaxi public transport) and actual communications
spending. The money does not at all come from my own pocket. It
is from the organization.

As to the applause for me, I am afraid your reporter got it
wrong -- it was a strong protest for my being late.

* The Post also wrote: "The protesters, some of whom arrived in
taxis... well dressed, apparently able to read English well."

There were three groups who arrived by taxi -- one from Warung
Jengkol, East Jakarta, because they had to carry food; one from
the UPC office because they were responsible for transporting
drinking water and materials for the rally; and one from Kampung
Rawa, West Jakarta.

The latter paid the taxi fares with their own money -- not
because they were rich but because there were 10 of them and
there would be only a Rp 500 difference if they took a
bus/Metromini. By bus they would have had to change three times
to get to the WB office.

We realize that there is strong stereotyping concerning the
poor, but a broad-minded paper like the Post should be able to
get away from such a trap, shouldn't it?

The beautiful idea of the visit, in which we invited the
bank's officials to share our lunch in our traditional way, i.e.,
to sit on a mat and eat with the hand to symbolically tell them
that we are the hosts and they are the guests in this country was
clearly overlooked by the Post.

We deeply regret the report that was apparently full of
incorrect insinuations.

WARDAH HAFIDZ

Jakarta