Young scavengers urge free education
JAKARTA (JP): Young scavengers who had gathered for three days at the Cibubur camping ground called on the government yesterday to heed their demands for public health care, free basic education and more humane treatment in rehabilitating them.
On the last day of a three-day summer break, hundreds of street children, beggars and vendors from slum areas throughout the nation made a modest, but cheerful carnival at the camping ground.
The children, divided into several groups depending on their places of origin, paraded and carried banners with slogans and images that reflected sadness and a desire for a better future.
"Ole, Ole, Ole! Duren Sawit ngetop (the best)! We want a playground, because we don't have anyplace to play," children from Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, gaily chanted.
A small group from Medan, North Sumatra, demanded justice. They said officials who had cruelly treated one of their friends, whom later died, should be brought to court.
"We know he did wrong, but authorities should educate us and give us understanding instead of severe punishment," the group yelled while displaying their friend's enlarged picture.
Children from a slum area in Bantar Gebang, Bekasi, who said they were forced by their parents to work, called on the government to organize a counseling program for parents on the importance of education.
Health center
The 17 children also asked the government to provide an adequate health center for them and put off plans to demolish the slum area where they live.
The annual camping event was organized by the Jakarta Social Institute, a non-governmental organization, to promote public awareness in impoverished children's education, health and security.
Thirteen-year-old Suminto, who maintains his living by singing in the streets and polishing shoes, stressed the importance of education.
"I want to continue my studies because I don't want to always live like this," he said, adding that his mother was still living in East Java. He also said he sometimes fell prey to people with sexual aberrations.
Suminto said the three-day camping event had enlightened him and encouraged him to exchange stories with other children.
Some street children were addicted to sniffing glue to get high in times of despair, Suminto said.
A 14-year-old girl from a polluted industrial area in Cakung, East Jakarta, said she worked at a garment company and earned Rp 180,000 per month.
"I'm not studying anymore because I have to help my mother and step-father," Tarini said.
She complained that, aside from the wage, the garment factory did not give her extra money for food and transportation.
She told The Jakarta Post she wished that the government backed off of its plan to demolish the Cakung slum area to make way for a new toll road. (10)