[Onthebarricades] INDONESIA: Protest rallies as Jakarta bans beggars, buskers

[Andy]

Ministry to assess bylaw on public order

Jakarta Post - September 25, 2007

Jakarta -- The Home Affairs Ministry says it will 
study the newly endorsed contentious public order 
bylaw which, among others, bans beggars and buskers 
from working the city's streets.

Janirudin of the ministry's legal bureau said Monday 
his office would examine whether the bylaw 
contradicted a higher law, the Constitution or public 
interest.

"If it opposes a higher law or public interest, the 
ministry has the right to ask for a revision of the 
bylaw or ask the president to annul it," he said at a 
meeting with representatives from the Poor People's 
Alliance.

Having been endorsed by the City Council, the bylaw, 
which was passed earlier this month, was submitted to 
the ministry to be registered; prior to registration, 
the city administration cannot enact it.

Outside the ministry's building, more than 200 
buskers, beggars, street children, transvestites and 
street vendors from the alliance, held a rally to 
protest the bylaw, saying it violated their 
constitutional rights as citizens.

The bylaw bans street vendors from operating business 
on sidewalks, pedestrian bridges and other communal 
areas without official permission from the governor. 
It also prohibits people from donating money to 
beggars, buskers and street children with a maximum 
Rp 20 million (US$2,128) fine or a 60-day jail term.

Edi Saidi from the Urban Poor Consortium said he 
believed the ministry would not endorse the bylaw. 
"These people work in informal sectors in order to 
survive. If the government thinks they aren't well-
organized, then provide regulations for them instead 
of banning them (from making a living)," said Edi.

The Jakarta administration endorsed the bylaw in an 
effort to create a tidier city; beggars, buskers and 
street vendors who operate in public spaces are 
regarded as a disturbance to public order.

One busker said he never intended to earn money by 
singing on public transportation vehicles or in 
public spaces. "But I have to. I'm trying to survive. 
This bylaw is like playing God (because) it doesn't 
give us a chance to earn a living," he said.

Another busker, a widow with five children, said she 
did not know any other way to earn money to feed her 
children.

"Like every mother, all I want for my children is to 
see them become great people who have decent jobs. I 
don't want them to become like me. If the government 
doesn't want us to busk on public transportation, 
then please tell us where to go to earn a living," 
she said.

She added many people were now reluctant to give 
buskers money since the city administration endorsed 
the bylaw earlier this month. "Previously I was able 
to earn around Rp 30,000 (US$3.2) per day, but lately 
I have only been able to get about Rp 12,000 per 
day," she said.

Activist Edi said the ordinance could not be 
implemented well and therefore was prone to 
corruption and manipulation as people would try to 
bribe public order officials to evade the bigger 
fine. "If the city administration forces the 
implementation of this bylaw, we will oppose it," Edi 
said.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Transsexuals say new bylaw on public order will 
increase discrimination

Kompas - September 26, 2007

Jakarta -- Transsexuals are opposing the Jakarta 
regional government bylaw on public order that will 
soon be coming into effect. They say that the bylaw 
is discriminative and will criminalise the poor and 
particular social groups, including transsexuals.

"Transsexuals are a group that up until now has 
suffered as a consequence of discrimination. This 
new bylaw will just increase discrimination against 
transsexuals, particularly poor transsexuals", said 
Ienes Angela, the head of the campaign and 
networking division of Arus Pelangi (Rainbow 
Current) on Tuesday September 25.

Kompas received the statement a short time before 
Arus Pelangi held a press conference yesterday to 
convey its official position with regard to the 
bylaw. According to Angela, Arus Pelangi is a group 
that is active in advocating for and defending 
lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals and 
transgender people.

Angela conceded that they don't know when Bylaw No. 
9/2007 on Public Order will come into effect. 
However the bylaw, which was revised on September 5, 
has been agreed to by the Jakarta Regional House of 
Representatives.

In its efforts to have the bylaw revoked, Arus 
Pelangi plans to organise more peaceful 
demonstrations and hold an audience with the 
Minister of Home Affairs, the Minister for Justice 
and Human Rights and the National Human Rights 
Commission. "Letters requesting an audience have 
already been posted. We are waiting on a reply", 
explained Angela.

As reported by Kompas on September 25, last Monday a 
number of transsexuals demonstrated against the 
bylaw at the Department of Home Affairs on J. Medan 
Merdeka Utara in Central Jakarta. The demonstration 
was joined by around 300 or so poor people including 
vagrants, beggars, buskers and street peddlers. 
(muk)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

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