North Sumatra prepares begging ban

Apriadi Gunawan , The Jakarta Post , Medan | Tue, 07/15/2008 10:36 AM | The Archipelago

The North Sumatra provincial administration is working on a draft bylaw to ban vagrants and beggars from panhandling in big cities throughout the province, Governor Syamsul Arifin said Monday.

The draft bylaw is also designed to prohibit ringleaders from coordinating or exploiting people to beg for themselves or for others, the governor said.

Syamsul said that the prohibition had been included in the draft bylaw under which anyone found in violation could face a jail sentence.

"The draft law has been sent to the legislative council for deliberation. We hope the council will pass it and help curb the rising number of vagrants and beggars whose activities disturb the public order," the governor said after attending a plenary session on the draft law.

Syamsul reiterated that the problem of vagrants and beggars in North Sumatra had to be addressed comprehensively as their soliciting was getting out of hand.

This unruly behavior should not be left uncontrolled because it disturbs the harmony of public life, he said.

The regulation is similar to bylaws prohibiting vagrants and beggars enacted in both Jakarta and Makassar, South Sulawesi.

The North Sumatra legislative council's head of Commission E on welfare, Rafriandi Nasution, said that the number of vagrants and beggars in North Sumatra had reached 12,680, now ranking third-highest after Jakarta and East Java.

Many of them are exploited by third parties, he said.

"The ones being exploited are mostly children and senior citizens. Irresponsible people take advantage of them," Rafriandi said.

The legislator warmly hailed the provincial administration's initiative to curb the trend.

"We fully support this step," he said.

Rafriandi said the council was scheduled to pass the bylaw at the plenary session on July 29, 2008.

"The council will act as quickly as possible to pass the bylaw to ensure peace so that people will no longer be disturbed by panhandling," he added.

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