Scavenger families hit hard by Penjaringan fire

JAKARTA (JP): Some sit around chatting, while others try to salvage what is left of their makeshift houses which were leveled by fire on Friday.

The children are playing with kites, their happy faces bearing no sign of gloom. They will later be 'busy' looking for a safe place to sleep at night.

The lives of the scavenger families, whose fire-ravaged shanties were located in Jembatan Tiga, Penjaringan district, North Jakarta, appear "normal", despite the demise of their accommodation.

They are now living under the elevated toll road leading to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and dreaming about public donations and help from the Social Service office.

Friday's night fire killed a girl and destroyed around 200 shanties, leaving more than 400 squatters homeless.

Yusnia, 14, who was on a school holiday, visited her parents from Lampung, southern Sumatra. She was sleeping when fire destroyed her parents' makeshift house.

What they want now is to be allowed to rebuild their shanties.

Jaman, spokesman for the squatters, told The Jakarta Post yesterday said the families had nothing left. "Where will our children sleep and get shelter from the sunlight and rains? We hope that the authorities will allow us to rebuild our shanties," he said.

Jaman, 50, who comes from Semarang, Central Java, has been living at the site for six years. He said he lost all his belongings, including ownership documents of an old truck he bought for Rp 2 million (US$854.7) some years ago.

The father of one son, looked desperate when he said he has no other choice but braving traffic police officers to drive his truck without any documents.

"I use the truck to transport used paper and obsolete metal collected by my fellow scavengers from here to Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta, where I sell the used paper for Rp 200 per kilogram and the obsolete metal at Rp 350 per kilogram," Jaman said.

Other scavengers, Waluyo, a father of three children, shared his lament saying that he had no plans for his family after the fire.

He said he was formerly a staff member of a garment factory PT Texmaco Jaya. He has been hanging around scavenging since the factory dismissed him five years ago.

"It's a long story. I no longer have shelter for my wife and children," he said. (jun)