Posts tagged under Jakarta
An “alternative” education for the poor
During our field visit to Jakarta in 2012, one of the interventions that caught our attention was the Urban Poor Consortium’s “alternative” schools for the poor in Penjaringan, North Jakarta. Below is an excerpt from the upcoming ATM Bulletin #20: Educating the Urban Poor, that discusses these schools. Enjoy!
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Penjaringan district in North Jakarta is home to one of the largest and poorest slums in Jakarta. In this otherwise service-deprived slum, there are over ten small schools where poor children can experience an education for free. These schools were founded by the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), a Jakarta-based pro-poor NGO that specializes in advocacy but also dabbles in service provision.
The flood-prone schools of Penjaringan district. Photo credit: lensaindonesia.com
According to UPC, public facilities in Penjaringan, including public schools, are very rare because it is not a formal residential area. Most of the dwellings in the area are built on top of reclaimed marshland, making it extremely flood-prone and unsafe for habitation. The services that do exist are poorly maintained, as there is not much funding allocated to improving conditions in informal slums.
Making a living without bank account
In Depok, one of Jakarta’s many suburbs, the team met and spoke to Eva P., the 26 year old owner of a warung (small shop) located just outside a traditional market. She is one of approximately 2.5 billion people without access to formal financial services.
In Eva’s hometown of Bengkulu, there were not many employment options after graduating from school. As with most of rural Indonesia, the only jobs available for her were agricultural. This prompted Eva to migrate to Jakarta in 2004, in search of better options.
Upon arrival, she immediately set up her own shop by building a stall next to the traditional market by Depok Baru Train Station. Her shop has remained in the same location for almost 8 years, surviving several police crackdowns on informal businesses in public spaces. She now sells a wide variety of food, drinks, and cigarettes to a clientele comprised mostly of jitney drivers, street musicians and motorcycle cabbies.
Mitigating the impact of Jakarta’s floods on the poor
Guest contributor Bianca Ayasha is a 2nd year MPP student at LKY SPP.
Last January, Jakarta was hit with the biggest flood in the last six years. According to the National Disaster Relief Agency, 20 people have died from the floods, while over 15,000 people have been displaced. The Jakarta Provincial Government estimated economic losses of 20 trillion Rupiah.
The recent floods in Jakarta affected even the city’s central business district. Photo by DetikNews.
Flood has become a yearly occurrence in Jakarta during the rainy season, between October and mid-February. During the rainy season, rainfall ranges around 150-200 millimeters per day, compared to 50 millimeters per day in the rest of the year. Furthermore, as 40% of Jakarta area is located under sea level, Jakarta also receives loads of rain water from higher elevation areas such as Depok and Bogor. Drainage piping under Jakarta’s roads cannot accommodate such huge amounts of water because they are too small and too old. Most water catchment areas in Jakarta have also been either turned into slums or high-rise buildings.
Surviving as a motorcycle cabbie in Jakarta
Mr. Karlan is a 54 year old native Jakarta resident who has spent the last six years of his life working as a tukang ojek, or motorcycle taxi driver. He chose his current profession after deciding that his aging body was no longer suited to handle the physical strains of working in construction. His decision was also made easier by the fact that he owns a motorcycle, a luxury that not all motorcycle cabbies have.
Karlan makes an average of IDR 100,000 (US$ 11) per day, while spending about IDR 25,000 per day on the road for meals, cigarettes, and fuel expenses. Thus, he earns IDR 2,250,000 per month to spend on his family, provided that he is able to work every day. This puts his family of four barely above the US$ 2 per day mark that some are currently using as the new poverty line. Unfortunately, this is only possible because he owns his own motorcycle. Other motorcycle cabbies would have to pay rental fees ranging between IDR 25,000 – 40,000 per day, which would slash that household income in half.
ATM Urban Poverty Series
In 2012, we traveled to four cities and conducted a survey on the challenges for the urban poor. The result are four bulletins containing primary data and case studies from the field.
Jakarta’s Poor – Strategies for protecting migrants
Manila’s Poor – Bridging service gaps
Hanoi’s Poor – Empowering Hanoi’s Poor
Vientiane – Poor, but Different
Jakarta’s Free Medical Services: What Problems Remain?
Bianca Ayasha is a second year MPP student at LKY SPP
The newly elected Governor of Jakarta, Joko Widodo, affectionately referred to as Jokowi, launched the Jakarta Health Card program on November 10th, 2012. The program is part of his goal to provide free health care for all residents of Jakarta, especially the low and middle income groups. The Jakarta Provincial Government aims to disburse four million Jakarta Health Cards in total. Cardholders will be eligible for free medical treatment in 340 local clinics (Puskesmas) or 88 regional general hospitals (RSUD) as well as some private hospitals that are participating in the program.
The health care services are funded by the Provincial Health Insurance budget (Jaminan Kesehatan Daerah), so only residents of Jakarta are eligible to receive the program. Proof of residency in Jakarta is the one requirement to obtain the Jakarta Health Card. This is done by showing their Identification Card (Kartu Tanda Penduduk) or Household Information Card (Kartu Keluarga).
A resident of Jakarta showing her Jakarta Health Card (Kartu Jakarta Sehat) given out by the Jakarta Provincial Government. Photo courtesy of KOMPAS.com
Comparing urban poverty in ASEAN cities
Throughout 2012 the Asian Trends Monitoring researcher team has traveled to four ASEAN cities with the goal to find out more about urban poverty and the major challenges the urban poor are facing today. We conducted a survey with a total sample size of 1,400 respondents (approx. 350 in each city). During our field visits we recruited local university students and NGO workers to run the survey in slums and poor neighbourhoods in Jakarta, Manila, Hanoi, and Vientiane. To read about our experiences click on the name of the respective city.
The survey had a “perception of difficulties” section comprising ten categories, each to be rated on a 5-point scale (from “easy” to “impossible/unable to do”). Below you will see a comparison of the five categories most frequently rated as “very difficult” to access by respondents in our survey.
For a crisper image click on the image “Comparing urban perceptions of difficulty”
Across all four cities the challenges of finding work opportunities and access to financial services (saving money) featured among the services most difficult to reach. Overcrowding and lack of space for the family were unique to Jakarta’s Poor with more than 200 respondents reporting it as an issue while lack of access to health services featured particularly prominently in Hanoi.
A tale of two cites – Jakarta and Manila
New infographic from the ATM team! In this one, we compare our urban poverty survey data between Jakarta and Manila, to see if there are any significant differences in the problems that these two fast-growing mega-cities face.
Click on this picture below to see the full infographic.
More entries on our research on urban poverty and life in Southeast Asia’s slums can be found here.
Bulletin 16: Jakarta’s poor and strategies for defusing violence and protecting migrants
Jakarta’s poor need help
Jakarta, Indonesia: capital of Southeast Asia’s largest democracy and the fourth most populous country in the world at 238 million (2011 data). Home to over 23 million people, the Greater Jakarta Area (Jabodetabek) is the largest megacity in Asia and the third largest in the world.
To outsiders, Jakarta is a shining example of Indonesia’s development. To businesses, it is a thriving market with a skilled labour force and skyrocketing consumption rates. To its middle class, it is a city that is still able to provide everything they need, despite stressful levels of congestion. But to its poor, Jakarta presents a very different picture.
Jakarta’s poor live in the scattered pockets of urban slums and witness a very different side of the city. To the poor, Jakarta is a city where basic services are out of reach and decent job opportunities are scarce. Despite their best efforts, they struggle even for minimum subsistence. How can a city growing so fast leave so many behind?
Research on urban poverty: ATM Team in Hanoi
The Asian Trends Monitoring Team is ready to go to Hanoi. From Friday, May 18th, to Thursday, May 24th, Taufik and Johannes will visit organisations working with and for Hanoi’s poor. We will talk to people in slums, on the street and to NGO workers in order to find out more about how people overcome the challenges of being poor in a bustling city.
To support our qualitative research with some more data, we are also conducting a survey among the poor in Hanoi. We aim to collect responses from about 350 respondents, the same sample size we had reached in Jakarta and Manila. You are already curious about the results? Read more about our survey results in recent blog posts about saving’s strategies,access to credit, and Jakarta’s water supply. Also check out this video about street fights in Jakarta’s slums.
Moreover, in about a week or so we will release our next ATM Bulletin on Jakarta’s poor with detailed information about our field trip to Jakarta. So stay tuned for the release.
[Update: The research from our visits in slums in Jakarta and Manila is now available for free. Download it here ATM Bulletin 16 on Jakarta's Poor and also ATM Bulletin 17 on Manila's Poor]
