By Marjie Suanda
Photos by Freddy

Recent violent clashes between becak (three-wheeled pedicab) drivers and municipal workers in Jakarta – Indonesia's overcrowded and heavily polluted capital – resulted in the death of a security guard. The clashes are part of a heated debate about the city government's efforts to enforce a ban on becaks, which ply the roadways of most Indonesian cities and towns.

This becak driver (left) has become close friends with organizer Jumadi, who calls him PaK Tua ("Old Man") after years of struggle together

The governor's office insists that becaks are a source of the city's notorious traffic snarls. But many who oppose the ban on becaks see it as yet another heavy-handed government policy created with no dialogue or consideration for how it will impact the lives of the "little people."

"Who wants to become a becak driver? I've become one because I've had to," said Basir, a becak driver in Jakarta who was recently quoted in the Kompas newspaper. "To be a farm laborer in my hometown in Central Java is no longer possible with the wages of only 75 cents a day. It's not enough to feed my wife and four children. As a becak driver, I can earn between $1 to $3 a day."

"Who wants to become a becak driver? I've become one because I've had to," said Basir, a becak driver in Jakarta who was recently quoted in the Kompas newspaper. "To be a farm laborer in my hometown in Central Java is no longer possible with the wages of only 75 cents a day. It's not enough to feed my wife and four children. As a becak driver, I can earn between $1 to $3 a day."

In Palu, a city located nearly 1,000 miles northeast of Jakarta on the island of Sulawesi, an intense 30-year-old named Jumadi has devoted himself to finding solutions to the problems faced by the urban poor. He speaks compellingly on issues that affect the various groups of urban poor he has organized: becak drivers, pushcart sellers (vendors known in Indonesian as Kaki Lima, which means "five legs," referring to the seller and his three-wheeled push cart), market wagon pushers, and urban farmers. Jumadi has united them in an association formed in early 2000 called Solidarity of the Common People (SORAK).

Photo by Freddy

Jumadi and a becak in front of his house

The initial purpose of SORAK was to help support and give a voice to people who had been systematically marginalized by government development policies. What is immediately striking about SORAK is the sense of mutual support and solidarity among groups that traditionally are susceptible to horizontal conflicts as they struggle for limited space and a piece of a very slim pie.

Jumadi's commitment to urban workers may be a trait inherited from his father, who was a freedom fighter. Jumadi began to practice activism in earnest during his days as a student in the education department of the state university in Palu (UNTAD).

Jumadi's mother hoped her youngest son would become a teacher when he set off from his village to study in Palu, a city of striking physical beauty. Palu is located at the end of a narrow bay, and surrounded by hills and mountains. The tops of the hills are green from the rain which falls but stops there, leaving the slopes into the city dry and dotted with cacti.

Photo by Freddy

Jumadi and his daughter

Palu's population is about 250,000. Some 89,000 residents have been living below the poverty line since the Asian economic crisis of 1998. Jumadi lived among the urban poor, and felt a moral responsibility to help them solve their problems of basic survival.

In 1994, when one of his neighbors was injured while working on a road construction project, Jumadi helped organize roadworkers to obtain compensation for hospital care required for his neighbor's work-related injuries. Jumadi was encouraged by this success.

Although it was a period when unions were banned by the Soeharto government, Jumadi helped organize workers in a rattan factory to struggle for fair wages. His reputation as an organizer and activist began to spread.

In 1997, workers in Palu's informal sector faced two threats: plans for a regional ordinance to ban becaks, and steps taken to displace small scale vendors from the market area. These problems prompted Jumadi to create occupation-based organizations.

Jumadi met frequently with the drivers when city officials began to confiscate becaks. In informal gatherings, they discussed the immediate problem they were facing and also analyzed bigger issues, such as their right to earn a living and their relationship to government policies.

Photo by Freddy

Jumadi (standing under umbrella, left) at the Manonda market

The becak drivers soon realized they could use an organization to advocate for their rights. They formed the Persatuan Tukang Becak Manonda (Union of Becak Drivers of the Manonda area).

Leaders of the organization were chosen from within the ranks of the becak drivers by democratic vote. They established regular meetings, membership fees, and decided to hold peaceful demonstrations to voice their concerns as a group.

At about the same time, street vendors in Palu were being pushed out of space in and around a strategic marketplace where they sold their goods. A private company had signed an agreement with the local government, giving it the right to use the marketplace land for a 25-year period. (Such agreements are common practice in Indonesia, and often provide substantial rewards to the government officials who approve them.)

Assuming management of the area, the company began to change its status from a traditional market, which is open to vendors who set up carts or sell around the square, to a central market in which sellers must pay high fees for stalls in fixed locations. The sellers, who transport their wares in carts, were pushed further and further out of the area. Police were brought in to provide security and enforce the company's policy.

Sellers who felt powerless to defend their position had heard of Jumadi's work with the becak drivers, and they asked to meet with him. Together, they discussed the problems and possible solutions.

Photo by Freddy

Vendors who sell by the side of the road
are not given space in the market

They also formed an organization and made membership cards for those who joined, giving them a sense of validity and belonging. Security forces tried and evict vendors from the area not long after the pushcart vendors had established their organization.

Jumadi was beaten and jailed for defending their rights. While he was recuperating in the hospital from broken bones, support streamed in from becak drivers and pushcart vendors who brought him food and news of their struggles.

Jumadi recovered and returned to work with groups of urban poor. By mid-1998, another national issue emerged that helped unite the various groups. By then, the economic crisis had taken hold and the price of SEMBAKO (nine basic food products, from rice and oil to instant noodles) increased further and further beyond the reach of a growing number of Indonesians.

The political situation was more unstable than it had been for three decades, as Soeharto was urged to step down. Jumadi and the becak drivers' organization, the cart vendors' organization, a group of urban farmers who were also in danger of losing their land, and a group of market wagon pushers all decided to band together and march on the local parliament building.

Their demands were: 1) lower prices for SEMBAKO, 2) revoke any bans on becak operations, 3) increase the minimum wage, and 4) form a special committee that represents society's many factions to investigate issues directly related to the lives of the urban poor. All the demands were rejected at the time, but there was substantial media coverage and heightened support from community-based organizations in the region.

Jumadi began to develop the idea for SORAK, a forum that would unite the various groups, giving them hope that their voices would be heard. Jumadi's efforts to bring groups together helped spark a Town Meeting, where it was agreed that SORAK would be formed.

One representative from each of 12 occupational groups is elected to SORAK so that 12 people are included in the Forum. SORAK aims to act as a mediator between policy makers and the grassroots organizations it represents. It also supports these organizations by creating a common discourse, facilitating meetings, holding trainings, and leading advocacy campaigns.

In other cities, including Jakarta, the organizations that work with the urban poor are all NGOs with official boards and staffs consisting of activists. When asked why he doesn't want to follow that model, Jumadi replied, "Creating a formal organization or NGO would defeat the purpose of all that we have been building over the years."

Some argue that if SORAK became an NGO, it would be able to apply for grants, but Jumadi strongly opposes this idea. He replies that being an occupation-based organization, and being economically self-sufficient, based on membership fees, is a source of pride and strength for SORACK. Jumadi's networking ability has generated support from local and national NGOs, often in the form of moral support, access to office facilities, and training for members.

Kemal, a SORAK member and the leader of the Pushcart Vendors' organization, talks enthusiastically about current developments in his group. Through intensive lobbying, it has managed to change the government's policy for the marketplace.

Photo by Freddy

Jumadi meets with a vendor in his market stall at a time when there were still conflicts between sellers inside and outside the market

A decree from the mayor allowed the vendors to build 400 stalls for themselves in the market. The occupants of these 400 stalls were the original members, but the number has now grown to more than 1,000 stalls.

Meetings are convened every Saturday night, and members pay a monthly fee of about 10 cents for those with a stall and 5 cents for those without a stall. The fees are used to establish a cooperative that acts as an emergency fund for members when unforeseen needs arise, such as sickness or accidents. It also offers soft loans (loans made without the normal security demands placed on borrowers).

Members have become a part of a team that works with the mayor's office to take manage the security, sanitation and orderliness of the market area. "I often get home late from the market," says Kemal, whose daily activities include selling eggs. "Members always want to talk with me. But at least things are safe now. There are no more evictions."

The becak drivers also have benefited. The campaign, backed by other groups within SORAK, has led to a revision of the ban on becaks so that 500 are allowed to operate. They pressured the local government to set up a special committee that includes social leaders, business people, academics and the urban poor to work on solutions.

Photo by Freddy

Discussions at the SORAK office take place at night, when sellers and becak drivers have some time off

When a conflict threatened to break out between becak and motorcycle drivers (acting as taxis), Jumadi brought the two groups together so they were able to negotiate parking rules that would be followed by all members. These rules were shared with officials from the Traffic and Transportation Authority, in a true example of a bottom-up solution.

"Horizontal conflicts are always a potentiality," said Agus Alam, who works for the Institute for the Study of Law and Human Rights Advocacy in Palu, and participates in SORAK as a discussion facilitator and mediator. "The government has been known to use problems to incite such conflicts."

By holding routine meetings and discussions, SORAK members have been able to develop their own perspectives on issues that directly affect their lives, and to better understand the consequences of their actions and the actions of the government. They also understand that when political parties approach SORAK, they have their own motives and agendas. So they have agreed to solve their issues outside of party politics.

In April 2000, serious ethnic conflict erupted in the city of Poso, causing some 15,000 refugees to flee to Palu. "What was amazing to see, in terms of solidarity, was the way SORAK members became actively involved in helping the refugees from Poso," Jumadi said. "On their own initiative, becak drivers cleaned the place set aside for the refugees and helped distribute food."

SORAK has significantly influenced the lives of the urban poor in Palu. Now, Jumadi is beginning to think about spreading it to other regions. At present, he is participating in meetings of groups who work with the urban poor throughout Indonesia to plan for an international meeting in December.

Jumadi has enthusiastically shared his approach with other groups. "SORAK's program in the future will be about how to make the city government in Palu and elsewhere involve the common people in the formulation of policies that directly impact their lives," he said. "It is the hope of SORAK that in the future it will be the common people themselves who make decisions, and the government will only be there to serve them."

Indonesia is struggling with what it means to be a democratic nation. Steps have been taken to allow more decision making to occur at the regional level.

Many people are discussing how to give a voice to the people, but they are struggling to learn how to listen to those voices. Jumadi has developed a model for how people's aspirations can become a part of the planning process, helping to guide policies toward social harmony.

SORAK is a self-sufficient organization, but small contributions to help pay for magazine and newspaper subscriptions would be useful.