CITIZEN JOURNALISM

Sea Scavenger Women in Kendari Untouched by Assistance

By Rijal Yunus

A number of women sea scavengers in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, are not priority recipients of aid intended for poor communities. In fact, during the Covid-19 pandemic in the last two years, they received no assistance at all. This condition makes life increasingly difficult amidst health problems and various household burdens.

Moming (65), a resident of RT 11/RW 05, Petoaha Village, Kendari, one of the sea scavengers said that, in the last two years, he and his family have never received assistance from the government. So far, she has only relied on her husband's income from scavenging and fishing.

"But I haven't gone scavenging for a month. My leg hurts," said this mother of seven children while holding her left leg, Thursday (9/12/2021). His legs could not bend due to the stroke he suffered.

For the last 14 years, Moming has regularly gone to the sea looking for plastic waste. A two meter long canoe, with a width of 0.5 meters, is the main accommodation for searching for rubbish. Since morning, he rowed the canoe towards Kendari Bay, even to the mouth of the bay. He walked along the edge to look for rubbish carried by the current.

The waste is collected every day, then sold when there is enough. Collection usually takes three to four weeks. In one sale, he gets an average of around IDR 400,000. The money is used for daily needs, especially buying food.

Her husband Ali's (69) income depends on the weather and season. As a small fisherman, getting one to two kilograms of fish in the bay is quite good. During high wave season, he is forced not to go to sea.

When she and her husband are not going to sea, Moming continued, she depends on her children and daughter-in-law who live at home. Seven other people lived in Moming's boarded-up residence. Apart from her husband, son and daughter-in-law, her three grandchildren live in the house that has been lived in for decades.

"I received direct cash assistance in 2018. But after that I never got it again," he said. He really hopes he can get help from the government like other residents. This assistance can ease daily burdens, especially for the family's food needs.

Another scavenger, Hanafiah (60), said that he routinely deposits files when asked by the local environmental administrator. Even so, this widow, who lives alone, has never received reports of assistance in her own name.

So far, he has survived relying on plastic waste in the sea. Every day he routinely goes out paddling his canoe looking for plastic in the sea. He only stays at home when he is sick or has urgent business.

"If we don't go out, we don't eat. Because that's all we can hope for," he said.

During high wave season, said Hanafiah, he goes down to the sea in front of his house to look for shellfish or fish. Some of the produce obtained is sold, and the other half is taken home to eat.

Even though he hasn't received help, he tries to be patient and surrender. He never knows whether the data he has collected has been verified with the central government, and is not constrained. He didn't know how to manage the files and was constrained by costs.

Marniati (39), coordinator of the Petoaha Marine Scavenger Group, revealed that of the 10 members, at least five of them did not receive assistance. In fact, their condition really needs help, especially during the current Covid-19 pandemic.

This mother of two said that data collection for aid recipients is routinely carried out. Requests to deposit Family Cards (KK) to be deposited with the government have also been followed. However,  they never received help.

"Whether we want assistance from the Family Hope Program (PKH), non-cash food assistance (BPNT), or anything else, there is none at all. We only get occasional rice assistance from distribution agencies," he said.

According to Marniati, he didn't know where the problem lay so he and his colleagues didn't get help. He also felt lazy to ask about problems because of various obstacles.

"From morning until noon we look for rubbish. After that we cook for the family. In the afternoon we organize and sort the rubbish. Where do we have time to go take care of all that mess," he said.

To go to the sub-district or sub-district office, they have to pay a fee. Renting a motorbike taxi, queuing, photocopying costs, costs more than IDR 50,000. In fact, that value is enough to feed the family for three days.

Data collection

Various problems in the field mean that small communities at the lowest levels are not priority recipients of aid. The problems range from data collection, data that is not synchronized, to information that is not disseminated

Sujiatno (30), one of the Petoaha Village Social Health Center officers, said that one of the most frequently encountered problems is that citizen data is not validated at the ministry. In fact, this data has been input and submitted to the relevant department.

"The data of all residents must be online so that it can be read by the ministry. Usually the data cannot be valid if there is a problem with the Family Card," he said.

These problems include duplicate data, different Family Identification Numbers (NIK) on the KK and KTP, different names, or KK that has not been updated. All of these things must be changed immediately so that the data can be synchronized and valid.

In Petoaha Village, continued Sujiatno, 7,100 residents' data has been input and declared synchronous to central data. Of this number, 315 families were recipients of assistance, including PKH, BPNT, and finally assistance for the Implementation of Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM).

Even so, he does not yet know the exact data on residents whose population data is still problematic.

"The sub-district and sub-district authorities have instructed residents to immediately submit their data to the local office. For residents who are taking care of their social assistance needs, it is guaranteed that they will be given priority," he said.

On the one hand, he understands the difficulties residents have in dealing with administration at government offices. Apart from taking time, people have to leave their daily work which is their main source of income. He tries to help if someone asks for help with management.

"But my job isn't just that. I have to manually input data for all residents. Moreover, there are many kinds of assistance," said Sujiatno.

Head of the Social Protection and Security Division of the Kendari Social Service, Ishak Bulo, said that all social assistance disbursed by the government is intended for the poor. This assistance targets those who are most economically challenged, have limited access, and have difficulty meeting daily living needs.

"Be it PKH, to BPNT, everything is for small communities. This includes the marine scavenger groups on the Kendari coast," said Ishak.

If so far they have not received assistance, he suspects that the residents' data has not been validated by central data. As a result, even though they were entered several times, the names of residents were not included as recipients of aid.

He suggested that residents immediately check the administrative data, to see whether all the information entered is in sync with one another. "Even if the data is correct, it's possible that there won't be any sustenance either. It's not us who determine this, it's all from the center," he said.

The head of the Mutmainnya Coastal Women's Group said that a number of problems were found regarding the distribution of social assistance to poor communities. So far, many women who are also heads of families have not been touched by aid for years. Mutmainnya actively organizes women informal workers, scavengers and housewives on the Kendari coast. Some of them are heads of families, as well as senior citizens.

Based on initial investigations, there were at least 20 families from the organization who had problems receiving assistance. "So far, there are six scavengers who have not received assistance, or have been on the list but have not been able to disburse it," he said.

Therefore, currently he is collecting data and the problems faced by small communities who have not received assistance. He hopes that the government will pay more attention to the poor so that they are not increasingly burdened with basic needs, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.