Scavenger feels cheated by govt

Wahyuana The Jakarta Post/Bekasi

With daily income ranging from Rp 7,000 (US$78 cents) to Rp 12,000, Muhammad Nahlan, 48, a Bantar Gebang scavenger, was ecstatic when told in late March that he had been chosen to receive a free health card that would allow he and his family members to get free medication at government hospitals.

Wearing his Sunday best, Nahlan, who has four children, arrived at the Bantar Gebang district office as ordered on March 28, where he was supposed to receive his free medicine card directly from Health Minister Siti Fadillah.

Upon arrival at the office, however, Nahlan was told that he had another task -- giving press interviews about the program and about his family life.

"Of course I said all good things about the new program during those first interviews. I also told the press about the poor condition of my family, and that I really hoped that the program would help us," he told The Jakarta Post recently.

Now, however, Nahlan, who has benefited from the government's subsidized rice and health services for the past two years, feels that he has been cheated.

"The ceremony was a big sham. So far, I have not received my medical card. I feel I have been cheated," he told the Post.

Royani, a spokesperson at the Sumur Batu subdistrict office said Nahlan was not on the list of health insurance recipients.

He said at least 831 of Sumur Batu's 5,000 residents were expected to receive insurance cards, but until now only seven persons have allegedly received theirs.

Royani said he was still busy collecting the data of poorest residents in the subdistrict. He said he had asked for the list of poorest families to every head of communities in the Sumur Batu. How the office came up with the 831 figure, however, remained unknown.

"Nahlan can contact the head of his community if he wants to receive an insurance card," Royani added.

The central government has allocated Rp 3.7 trillion (US$400 million) to pay insurance premiums for 60 million poor people across the country.

Under the program, poor people like Nahlan would get an insurance card which they can use for medication at government hospitals. Under the previous subsidized health services, recipients got subsidized health service at local health centers only.

The government categorizes people as poor if they earn less than $1 or less per day, while the United Nations Development Planning sets the benchmark at $2 or less.

Nahlan, who is nursing a sickly wife, hoped that he would get his insurance card soon. His wife, Tamah bin Antar (40), has been sick in the past 18 months. He has twice brought his wife to a psychic in Banten, but her health condition did not improve. He does not dare to bring his wife to hospital as he does not have sufficient money.

Staying with him are his four teenager children -- Hamdan 20; Ahmad Depi, 17; Ahmad Darwis, 15; and Pona'ah, 12; and his aging mother Ocih, who has been suffering from a face tumor in the past 10 years.

As her mother never complained about her sickness, Nahlan has taken Oci to hospital for medical treatment.

"I don't feel any paint," Ocih told the Post.