Banyumas poor turn to suicide as the last road out of hardship

Agus Maryono ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Banyumas, Central Java   |  Wed, 09/17/2008 10:26 AM  |  The Archipelago

A pedicab driver was found dead Monday in the passenger seat of his tricycle, on Jl. Dr. Angka in the upscale Permata Hijau housing complex in Purwokerto.

Martawireja, 55, from South Purwokerto district in Banyumas, Central Java, was found by residents during the early morning rush hour.

His wife said she had asked him not to work that day because he was ill. But she said he insisted on working because he was the sole breadwinner in the family.

Martawireja was one of 800,000 Banyumas residents categorized as still living below the poverty line.

Poverty, attributed to chronic social issues, has claimed the lives of many in Banyumas, home to 300,000 jobless people in their productive ages.

At least 60 people committed suicide between July 2007 and July 2008, mainly because of financial hardship. Thousands of married couples have also filed for divorce on the same grounds.

Poverty has also left thousands of elementary school pupils deprived of further education; and another issue raising concern is the malnutrition suffered by about 30 children below the age of five.

Banyumas Police chief Sr. Comr. Boy Salamuddin recently told The Jakarta Post 62 people had committed suicide as of August this year.

"A majority of them committed suicide out of depression triggered by financial hardship, and 80 percent of them did it by hanging," he said.

One of the victims was Sakiman, 51, an elementary school teacher in Sawangan village, Ajibarang district, Banyumas, who killed himself by poisoning, because of huge unpaid debts and salary cuts.

"This is a matter of grave concern to us because people tend to resort too quickly to suicide. Is the degree of poverty affecting the community that serious? In all the time I've worked here, I'm only now seeing so many suicide cases," Boy said.

Poverty, especially within Banyumas regency, has been on the rise over the past three years. Data from the local administration shows 47 percent of the regency's 1.7 million people are categorized as poor -- a marked increase of 6 percent from the 2006 figure of 41 percent. The rate stood at an average of 40 percent between 2003 and 2005.

In addition, the local health office found 35 cases of malnutrition among children below the age of five.

Puji Astuti, an official at the office's nutrition and children center, said malnutrition was mainly attributed to poverty.

"In all the cases, the parents lacked the means to buy milk for their children," she said.

Ali Umar, head of the Banyumas Education Council, said some 8,000 of the regency's 25,000 elementary school graduates could not afford to continue their studies at junior high.

The figure, he added, was a 50-percent rise from the previous year's figure of 6,000 children.

"This is cause for concern. Apparently, the poverty rate in Banyumas is rising continuously. We don't believe the reports from the local administration saying the number of poor people has decreased in the last two years," Ali said.

Banyumas also recorded a growing number of divorces. Some 1,000 divorce cases were filed between 2005 and the present, registered at local religious-affairs offices.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.