UPC says number of poor people in Jakarta is higher than reported
UPC says number of poor people in Jakarta is higher than reported
Damar Harsanto
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) chairwoman Wardah Hafidz said on
Saturday that the number of poor people without ID cards in the
city could be five times greater than the 100,000 reported
earlier by the Jakarta Bureau of Statistics.
"It must be far more than only 100,000. It could be five times
higher," she said.
Wardah gave as an example the slum in Kampung Sawah in
Cilincing, North Jakarta, where over 2,000 poor families live, 70
percent of which do not have ID cards.
"This is an attempt by the city administration to conceal the
poverty problem by discounting their existence here," she said.
She also lambasted the unfair treatment received by the poor.
"Such discriminative treatment of poor people is common by the
administration simply to force them out of the city to ease
overcrowding here," Wardah said.
"However, it's obviously against human rights as well as a
citizen's rights as stipulated in our Constitution."
Citing Article 27 of the 1945 Constitution, Wardah revealed
that most poor people who moved to Jakarta to seek employment
were protected by the Constitution, which stipulates that every
citizen has the right to a proper livelihood.
The Jakarta Statistics Bureau reported on Thursday the results
of a 2000 survey that found the total population in the capital
was 8.38 million, with the total of absolute poor at some
340,000. Of the total impoverished people, 32,983 poor families
or over 100,000 people do not have ID cards, the report says.
Due to their inability to produce ID cards, these people have
no access to public services including free health services,
cheap rice, soft loans or other assistance from the
administration.
Wardah said the discriminative treatment would not force the
poor to return to their hometowns or discourage them from coming
to Jakarta. Instead, such treatment would only incite stronger
opposition from the poor.
"As long as the fundamental problem, which is chronic
unemployment in regions, remains untouched, any efforts to
eradicate poverty would be futile," she said.
The head of the City Population Agency, Sylviana Murni,
insisted that her office would still require those applying for
new ID cards to submit official statements from their region of
origin and proof of current residence and occupation.
"We won't issue any new ID cards unless they fulfill these
conditions as stipulated in the bylaw," said Sylviana, referring
to Bylaw No. 1/1996 on the registration of the population.
Sylviana also refused to exempt poor people who have no ID
cards from the requirements by saying that: "The administration
would first have to revise the bylaw."
Sidiq, 39, is a poor person who moved to Jakarta from his
hometown in Palembang, South Sumatra, in search for a better
life. But his he is still living out in the elements with his
cart.
"I can't afford to rent a house with my low income of Rp
30,000 (US$3.40) a day," Sidiq said.
"I have applied for a temporary ID card twice. But I still had
to face raids from the administration. It's useless to have an ID
card," said Sidiq, adding that he paid Rp 10,000 for each ID
card. Sidiq has decided not to apply for another one.
The administration estimates that about 250,000 people from
other provinces migrate to the capital every year.