Drop in Makassar poverty rate tells partial story

Andi Hajramurni ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Makassar   |  Wed, 07/23/2008 10:53 AM  |  The Archipelago

Abdul Rasyid Daeng Lurang, 57, and his family live in a small house in Makassar, South Sulawesi. The roof is rusty corrugated metal that leaks when it rains, and the cement floor is covered in plastic sheets.

Rasyid, his wife Mantang Daeng Tanang, 48, and their two children, Kasmawati, 17, and Ahmad Rasyid, 16, cram into the six-by-nine-meter house.

The front room, which serves as guest room and family room, is furnished with a few old plastic stools, a clothes rack and a 21-inch television set that Rasyid said he bought after receiving his share of the proceeds from the sale of his grandmother's land. There is also a small bedroom and kitchen in the house.

Rasyid, a resident of Tidung village, Panakkukang district, starts his day at 4 a.m. by traveling 10 kilometers by bicycle to the Sunguminassa market to buy vegetables, which he will later sell at a number of housing complexes in Makassar. He has been doing the job since he was 10.

He was able to replace his old bicycle with a used Honda motorbike three years ago, but it has been breaking down a lot recently.

"It's a lot better to use the bicycle because it rarely breaks down and maintenance is cheaper. I'll just use the bicycle again," he said.

His daily income is uncertain. Sometimes he can take home around Rp 15,000 (US$1.60), and on occasion he goes home empty-handed.

"I incurred quite a loss today, around Rp 20,000. What can I do? We can only resign ourselves to the situation, as long as there is enough to meet our daily needs," he said, as his wife massaged his stiff back, a daily custom after he returns home from work.

Rasyid and his family are one of 5,638 poor households in Panakkukang district. A 2.08 percent drop in Makassar's poverty rate, from 70,160 families in 2006 to 68,477 families in 2007, according to the local social services office, means little to Rasyid.

He says he has been trapped in poverty for the last 18 years, or since he got married.

The 2 percent drop in the 2007 poverty rate, said the head of the Makassar Community Empowerment Agency, Syahrir Sappaile, surpassed the target.

However, he said it would be a difficult task to eliminate poverty completely in the coming years.

"Plagued by multiple crises, particularly by the increase in fuel prices, it would be very difficult to reach the target now," said Syahrir at his office.

Syahrir, who is also head of the city's poverty mitigation task force, said work was still being done to ascertain the exact number of people in Makassar living below the poverty line. This figure, when it is determined, will help the administration formulate anti-poverty policies.

"Low-income families will be provided with cards later," he said.

Syahrir said those who obtained the cards would be entitled to free education, healthcare and subsidized rice. His office will distribute 300,000 cards in the first phase, at an estimated cost of Rp 200 million.

"We will later provide another Rp 300 million for the remaining low-income families," he said.

Head of the Makassar Community Empowerment Agency's welfare improvement division, Nursiah, said her office had initiated training programs in the city's 14 districts, including teaching people embroidery and printing.

"We have also provided them with equipment," Nursiah said.

Low-income earners like Rasyid have also benefited from the rice-for-the-poor program, despite program participants not receiving sufficient rice to meet their needs for an entire month.

Rasyid recently had to pay Rp 300,000 for his son Ahmad's final examination fees. He was forced to borrow the money from someone, promising to pay back Rp 12,000 a day for a month.

"I often borrow when Ahmad has to pay for his school and examination fees," Rasyid said.

Despite earning just enough to survive, Rasyid is still determined to put his children through school, so they don't end up like him, trapped in poverty.

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