TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo said he had yet to find an effective plan to deal with the capital’s street urchins. He said the city administration’s efforts to deal with the issue so far had proved ineffective.
“We took them to social institutions, and the new ones came up,” he said at the City Hall on Wednesday, October 23, 2013.
Jokowi said the Jakarta Social Agency’s 56 halfway houses were already packed with around 3,000 street children. “Honestly, I want to know the method to resolve this problem permanently. From anyone,” the governor said.
Jokowi denied the claims he was more concerned about the fate of the monkeys of topeng monyet (monkey circus on sidewalks) than that of street children. He said, ideally, efforts to stem both problems should take place simultaneously.
He admitted, however, the city administration would need extra time to deal with the street children problem.
ANGGRITA DESYANI
