The Gloomy Face of Social Institutions

KOMPAS/FAJAR RAMADHAN

A child is fast asleep on a mattress on the edge of Jalan Bhakti, Cideng, Gambir, Central Jakarta on Monday (1/2/2021).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Social institutions can be likened to a two-edged sword for homeless people. On the one hand, a number of institutions have succeeded in helping homeless people change their lives. However, there remains the gloomy impression that social institutions make some unwilling to enter these homes.

To solve the issue, Social Affairs Minister Tri Rismaharini has promised to change the pattern of handling homelessness and people with social welfare problems (PMKS) in 41 homes managed by her ministry.

Ocit, 45, and Boim, 40, claim to have been deterred from entering social institutions. The two frequently rest on the side of Jl. Bhakti in Gambir, Central Jakarta, and once stayed in a social institution, although only for a few days.

Also read: Homeless People Have Not Been Optimally Handled

Boim has entered and left social homes three times. The man from Aceh faces the trauma of returning to social homes because he was “expelled” to Comal, Pemalang, Central Java, after undergoing social rehabilitation. At the time, he was only given Rp 50,000 to survive.

“I was raided while sleeping on a shop terrace. It turned out that I was sent to Comal. I was just told to go far away from Jakarta. But I was finally able to get back here by cargo train,” he said when met on Monday (1/2/2021).

Also read: Scavenging Fate in Front of Shops

KOMPAS/FAJAR RAMADHAN

Boim (40), a scavenger who often slept on the side of Jalan Bhakti, Cideng, Gambir, Central Jakarta, when met on Monday (1/2/2021).

Before his “expulsion” to Pemalang, Boim stayed in a social institution in Jakarta for 10 days. He felt the routine activity there was quite monotonous. What he remembered most were the fitness exercises every morning. He spent the rest of the day eating and daydreaming. “Smoking was forbidden, so it was boring. The food wasn’t appetizing either,” he said.

Boim also felt uncomfortable when asked to maintain personal hygiene in a social home. The officers in charge would not hesitate to bathe him if he refused to take a shower.

Smoking was forbidden, so it was boring. The food wasn’t appetizing either.

The same was experienced by Ocit. He once joined a social institution in West Jakarta for three days. Ocit was housed in a barracks along with some 25 PMKS. During his stay there, Ocit had no training or social rehabilitation activity.

Training

Heni, 38, a woman from Bangka Belitung Island province, has lived on the roads of the capital for ten years, particularly around the Kwitang area of Central Jakarta.

I was confined there like in prison. I couldn’t go anywhere. My child was sick inside but it was hard to get treatment.

Heni now dwells in the Pangudi Luhur Social Rehabilitation Center for Former Vagrants and Beggars in Bekasi, West Java. In this center she receives skill training. “If I get some business capital, I’m going to change my luck. I want to be a food seller,” she said.

Before joining the center, she claimed to have had a bitter experience in an institution in Jakarta in 2014. “I was confined there like in prison. I couldn’t go anywhere. My child was sick inside but it was hard to get treatment. I got mad, I kicked the plywood door and broke it down,” she recalled.

Kompas/Priyombodo

A homeless person fell asleep at a bus stop on Jalan HOS Cokroaminoto, Tangerang City, Banten, Sunday (31/1/2021).

Social Affairs Minister Tri Rismaharini has pledged to change the model of handling homelessness and PMKS. For the effort, the Social Affairs Ministry has allocated Rp 1.2 trillion this year.

The ministry’s director general of social rehabilitation, Harry Hikmat, said the government was undertaking social rehabilitation integrated with social empowerment. There’s also the system of social security and protection.

Head of the Social Rehabilitation Service Section of Pangudi Luhur, Ahmad Sahidin, said the entrepreneurship training in one of the centers managed by the Social Affairs Ministry was provided in varying periods according to the capabilities of the residents to become independent. “Some can make it in a week, a month or three months. We are assessing to ascertain if they can return to families or society. If they can be part of society, we will arrange their apprenticeship or employment in business places like automotive workshops and projects,” he said.

Also read: Street Children Are Citizens Too

The center offers various kinds of training such as culinary business, fish breeding, hydroponic planting, gardening, waste recycling and workshop operation.

Another pattern of addressing homelessness can be found in Malang city. A total of 35 families live in the tourist village of Kampung Topeng Desaku Menanti in Baran hamlet, Tlogowaru village, Kedungkandang district. Previously they were homeless, and some lived under bridges and in makeshift homes along the railroad.

Today they are tourism business players. In addition, there are those who work at factories or as construction laborers.

(DAN/ERK/FRD/ETA/SON/WER)

This article was translated by Aris Prawira