Anissa S. Febrina, Jakarta – For those who are fasting, this is said to be a time for increasing social empathy by actually experiencing the hunger and thirst that the poor feel almost every day.
Can temporary deprivation lead one to understand what is it like being trapped in poverty?
It seems that it takes more than that to really understand the issue as its roots lie in a lack of access to one's basic rights, not solely at the economic level, a non-governmental organization says.
"Poverty is not only about not having money. It is actually about the lack of opportunity to access proper education, health services, job opportunities and a reasonable standard of living," Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) deputy coordinator Abdurrachman said on the sidelines of Sunday's commemoration of World Habitat Day.
The rising number of urban poor in Jakarta is of the group's main concerns given the fact that state policies often act to the detriment of the poor.
According to the Central Statistics Agency, the number of poor people in Jakarta stands at 94,000 – or 9 percent of the city's total population – and will likely increase by 36 percent more by the end of the year. Although the figure is far lower than the 17.75 percent of population classified as poor nationwide, it is still ironic given that Jakarta was the largest single contributor (17.37 percent) to the country's 2005 gross domestic product.
It seems that on paper economic growth is no guarantee of poverty reduction.
Economist Chatib Basri cited Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen, who said that people were trapped in poverty because they were deprived of the chance and the processes to achieve higher living standards.
"We would urge the city administration to adopt policies that will increase the access of the poor to higher living standards," Abdurrachman said.
"One of the most important things is acknowledging that all people that live in the city, not only those who have Jakarta ID card, are residents who are entitled to all social services in the area," he stressed.
The requirement of residents to have a Jakarta ID card, according to Abdurrachman, was a political ploy to sideline the poor, who were mostly migrants seeking better opportunities in the capital.
Poor residents must possess a Jakarta ID card before gaining access to free education for their children and free health services, and often even to apply for a job.
The UPC has also urged a wiser method of dealing with city slums. "We strongly reject evictions as such a means of relocation undermines socio-cultural and economic aspects of the so-called illegal occupants' lives," the UPC said in a statement. "It would be better to improve the slums and enhance the quality of living there."
The question of land ownership has always been a problem for the urban poor as they spend almost a third of their income on rent. The urban poor also spend up to Rp 10,000 a day on meeting household needs, and pay an average of Rp 40,000 a month to use public toilets.
"We were born with several basic rights, like the right to land, water and air. We already have to pay for land and water, how soon will it be before we will have to start paying for the air we breathe?" asked a woman at a public forum held on the same day.