TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Those who easily feel sorry for street beggars must now be more open minded after hearing the story of Walang and Saaran. Officials from the Jakarta Social Services Agency caught the senior beggars in Pancoran, South Jakarta, with a total of Rp25 million on them. The two managed to gather the pile of crumpled bills after only two weeks of begging in the streets.
This true story should teach us a lesson not to pity beggars. Society must also understand that giving money to beggars is against the law.
This story, in which beggars can collect the same amount of money as an executive in a medium-sized company, is not surprising. Last year, the Jakarta Social Services Agency collected data on how much beggars earn scrounging on the streets near traffic lights.
Results revealed that a beggar can receive anywhere between Rp150,000 and Rp700,000 per day. An official even followed some of these beggars back to their village in West Java. They found that many of these beggars own permanent homes, plantations or gardens.
It is clear how begging can be a tempting profession as it is not how people imagine it to be. Begging is no longer a way to merely collect spare change to survive in the capital. It is an easy occupation with big profits compared to being a laborer. The manager of these beggars pick them up from their villages, lead them to Jakarta and then receive payments from them.
The Jakarta administration already has a strict bylaw aimed at eradicating these beggars. DKI Jakarta Bylaw No. 8/ 2007 on public order states, beggars and the people who give them alms may be punished. They will also be charged with a penalty of sixty days in prison and a fine of up to Rp20 million. However, all is meaningless as the raid on beggars is not conducted continuously.
Society has also made it difficult to eradicate these people off the streets. Some continue to give money to these beggars because they do not have the heart, or feel it is their duty to share with the poor. It is as if a symbiotic relationship had been formed between them.
This relationship must end. Raids on beggars, gathering them in social homes and then sending them off will not be effective. Guiding them toward another job will also be fruitless, as they know exactly how much more profitable begging can be. Not long after they are sent back to their hometowns, they appear in Jakarta again. The number of public order authorities is limited compared to the amount of beggars in Jakarta—reaching almost 20,000 people.
The tale of Walang and Saaran, the two "rich beggars", should be used as a momentum to inform society on the prohibition of giving money to beggars. This is rarely done, despite many not knowing that doing so is against the law.
Informing the public by adding a regulation to the bylaw, that prohibits beggars in the capital and handing them money in the streets, is not enough. It will be more effective if the administration promotes this bylaw by airing public service announcements using the mass media.
The public must also be discouraged from doing so. It is time to enforce this bylaw by fining those who give money to beggars. Society must realize that it is better to provide donations to social homes than to hand over their cash to these beggars.
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