Street kids underfunded

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan: The government could only provide help to 18,000 street children, or 45 percent of the country's reported 40,000 street urchins, due to a shortage of funds allocated for the scheme, an official said here on Thursday.

The visiting secretary-general of the Ministry of Social Services, Moerwanto, said the limited funds available forced the government to carry out the nurturing program in stages.

"It's totally dependent on the funds available," he said after opening a provincial technical consultation meeting for the ministry.

The street urchins must be patiently dealt with "because they're used to a life without any discipline", Antara quoted Moerwanto as saying.

Social workers assigned to handle street urchins "are often handicapped by 'human rights' principles, because they may be accused of imposing restrictions on the children's lives", he said.

"This is particularly true when the social workers conduct raids that are actually intended to catch street children so that they can be educated for a better life," the official said.