Ministry of Social Affairs Ensures Basic Needs Reach Neglected Residents in Jakarta

JAKARTA (May 7th, 2020) - As an effort to protect neglected residents such as street children, homeless people, trash pickers, beggars, and other Beneficiaries (PM) affected by COVID-19, the Director General of Social Rehabilitation of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Harry Hikmat, visited several villages of the trash picker community in Jakarta to see their condition first hand as well as providing basic food assistance (7/5).

The first visit of the Director General of Social Rehabilitation to the community of trash pickers and street children under the Papanggo Raya highway, North Jakarta. There is no building resembling a house, only a partition with a makeshift curtain connected from one pillar to another, with the roof of the highway itself. There are also parked public transportation, which indicates that some members of the community work as angkot (public transportation) drivers.

They put down a table filled with junks and a makeshift mattress just to rest the body. The Director General of Social Rehabilitation had a dialogue and at the same time providing basic food assistance directly to the community members of the North Jakarta Kumala Foundation.

The Director General of Social Rehabilitation continued his second visit to the trash picker community under the Gedung Panjang highway, North Jakarta. The house building is only composed of a series of plywood and wooden planks. The access road is narrow, there are lots of ropes for drying clothes that have no aesthetic value.

Even the Director General for Social Rehabilitation had to duck his head when giving basic food to residents whose houses were in a corner under the highway because the roof was too low. However, this condition did not erase the smiles of the children who sat neatly in a row on a wooden bench, they were still happy. This community was built by the Sekar Social Welfare Institution (LKS), North Jakarta.

The third visit was a visit to the Ubi Mango Community in West Jakarta. This community is located in a village which is barely a distance from one house to another. The houses are densely packed with buildings assembled from wooden planks. There was a large field that was filled with piles of scavenged rubbish. This community was built by the Modern Diakoneia Campus Foundation.

The Director General for Social Rehabilitation continued his visit to the fourth community, which is the trash picker community in the Haji Saibun alley, Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta. Different from other trash picker communities, this community is in the middle of a village with cluster-style buildings. Zinc roofs and buildings are composed of wooden planks. There are stacks of cardboard in almost every house.

This community picks up cartons more than any other junk. Accompanied by the Chairperson of the Nurul Iman Foundation as the foundation that built this community, the Director General of Social Rehabilitation provided basic food assistance and even educated children to maintain cleanliness by using hand sanitizers.

The visit continued on Friday (8/5) to the Putra Indonesia Mandiri Foundation in Central Jakarta. The Director General of Social Rehabilitation followed a road that did not even reach one step. There is a small booth occupied by an elderly man who works as a busker. The room is crowded with mattresses, cupboards and other tools. Only the space above the mattress was left. Even only one person can enter the room.

"Thank you sir, for providing me basic necessities," said the elderly busker when given the basic necessities by the Director General of Social Rehabilitation. The Director General of Social Rehabilitation advised not to busk for a while to avoid being exposed to COVID-19. This community is in a densely populated environment. Their profession varies, some are freelance workers, buskers, merchants, trash pickers, and daily cleaning services.

The Director General of Social Rehabilitation then left for Gunung Sahari Utara, Central Jakarta, as the last location for his visit. This community of buskers and laborers is located in densely populated settlements with small alleys. This settlement is also on the edge of a river where they often become victims of flooding. "I am grateful for the help from the Minister of Social Affairs," said Sumiati, an indomie seller and also a single parent fostered by the Bu Amelia Foundation.

The Director General of Social Rehabilitation provided social assistance in the form of 160 basic food packages from Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) as a partner of the Ministry of Social Affairs and 200 packages of basic food from the Ministry of Social Affairs. The Ministry of Social Affairs also provided medical equipment assistance in the form of 20 packs of masks, 40 bottles of hand sanitizer, 10 bottles of hand wash, and 10 personal protective equipment (PPE) for each community visited.

Trash pickers are one of the jobs affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even in pandemic conditions, it is common for them to continue to earn a fortune by being in a public space amidst Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB).

Seeing this condition, in order to stop the spread of COVID-19, the government is trying to provide protection. The Ministry of Social Affairs made several schemes for handling neglected citizens in the COVID-19 pandemic conditions.

The first approach is community-based, which is strengthening families directly in community locations through Social Welfare Institutions (LKS). Apart from strengthening families, educational interventions and social assistance will also be carried out in the community.

The second approach is Temporary Shelters (TPS)-based. The Ministry of Social Affairs is working with the Provincial Government of DKI Jakarta to provide a Sports Center (GOR) to accommodate neglected people such as homeless people, residents who are victims of Termination of Employment (PHK), and other Beneficiaries (PM) found in public spaces. They will be taken to the TPS and the Ministry of Social Affairs will contact their families and help to repatriate them.

The Sports Center is located in 5 location points, namely the Tengsin Rubber Sports Center in Central Jakarta, the Cengkareng Sports Center in West Jakarta, the Ciracas Sports Center in East Jakarta, the Tanjung Priok Sports Center in North Jakarta and the Pasar Minggu Sports Center in South Jakarta.

The third approach is Center-based. For neglected residents who need special care such as children, pregnant women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities, the Ministry of Social Affairs provides a Social Rehabilitation Center as a TPS, namely the Jakarta "Mulyajaya" Center, the Jakarta "Handayani" Children's Center, the Jakarta "Bambu Apus" Drugs Center, the Bekasi "Budhi Dharma" Elderly Center, the Bekasi "Tan Miyat" Center for Persons with Visual Disabilities and the Bekasi "Pangudi Luhur" Ex-Homeless and Beggar Center.

This protection effort is not limited to providing TPS, the Ministry of Social Affairs also provides social assistance in the form of basic necessities because based on information, most of these marginalized communities have difficulties accessing assistance.

After seeing the condition of the community, the Director General of Social Rehabilitation said that there needed to be data improvement. "We know that apart from the social assistance that has been distributed, there are still allocations that can increase the target to make it more well-targeted. It can also replace families who are not well-targeted. So residents here must get attention," said the Director General of Social Rehabilitation.

Currently, the basic social assistance given to the trash picker community comes from the Ministry of Social Affairs and its partner, Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI). “in the future, we will propose to get the President’s social assistance,” said the Director General of Social Rehabilitation.

Many of them find it difficult to access social assistance from the government. "It is possible for residents under this bridge to receive assistance. If it is not registered, we can do it in another way—the Ministry of Social Affairs in collaboration with LKS, orphanages, and foundations working in the grassroots to distribute food assistance and medical equipment, "added the Director General of Social Rehabilitation.

Working as trash pickers is also very hard in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic because they have to find sustenance by collecting used goods that are certainly not clean from various bacteria and viruses. Therefore, the Ministry of Social Affairs also provides medical equipment assistance to the community and provides education to stay at home.

Education about the dangers of COVID-19, how it is spread, to government policies on PSBB and staying at home can be carried out by LKS, orphanages, and foundations that foster the community.

"The nation must be present, we no longer see that they are a migrant or a native, have an Identity Card (KTP) or not, live under bridges and even slums, they must be helped by anyone. Not only by the government but all the people, ”concluded the Director General of Social Rehabilitation.

On this visit, the Director General of Social Rehabilitation was accompanied by the Director of Social Rehabilitation for the Elderly and staff, representatives of the Directorate of Child Social Rehabilitation, Directorate of Social Rehabilitation of Drug Abuse Victims, Directorate of Social Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities, Head of General Division, Head of Program and Reporting Division, and Public Relations Team of the Secretariat of the Directorate General of Social Rehabilitation, Head of Social Rehabilitation for the DKI Jakarta Social Service, Head of the Social Rehabilitation Section for the North Jakarta Social Service, representatives from the West Jakarta Social Service, South Jakarta Social Service, Secretary for the Head of Penjaringan Sub-District, North Jakarta and his staff, and the Head of the Foundation.