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Housing remains a burning national issue and in
Jakarta, optimizing Marunda public housing will play an important part in
solving the city’s environmental and social problems. To achieve this, Joko
“Jokowi” Widodo’s administration has taken much-appreciated assertive and
persuasive steps to do more than just cut red tape.
Nevertheless,
instead of harnessing tenants’ potential as responsible citizens, the
current policy retains the image of low-income people as inferior,
requiring subsidies and alms and being the source of societal problems,
discouraging other low-income people who work hard and long to live in
dignity and independence.
The approach
itself is problematic. For instance, the current unit rental subsidy has
strengthened the envy of low-income tenants toward poorer people. Their
hardship has been growing every day.
Yes, alms are
both necessary and a good tool to lure people to move in, but without old
and new tenants and participation in deciding their distribution, behavioral
change will not occur. Some think that living in Marunda is a surreal
experience. They make the most of it before they leave, so they strip
doorknobs, cables, even move furniture and appliances out. Income cap-based
tenant eligibility prohibits many law abiding and responsible citizens who
wish to rent a unit because they lack the funding to pay a basic rental fee
or have too much income.
Furthermore,
designating Marunda as a low-income complex separates the have-nots from
the haves. It limits the opportunity for social cohesion. The poor get
poorer due to lack of information about better jobs, education and health.
Therefore, to
better achieve the goals, housing citizens should be prioritized over
localizing low-income groups. The former is about population transformation
by encouraging people to fully exercise citizenship in the new place, while
the latter is about population transfer from squatters to a new place. The
former necessitates a high participation level, while the latter requires
less.
Using the
former, Marunda could be the place to transform citizens, society and the
environment. Without a maximum income cap, it could be a place for people
with any income to start living humbly, modestly, responsibly and
cohesively with other tenants as citizens. Thus, those who could be
expelled from Marunda are those who are lazy and irresponsible, not the
haves-nots.
This way, the
subsidy is a stimulus for transformation, not alms that pity the inferior.
If the city government insists on providing subsidies, give a merit-based
subsidy for all, or else give no subsidy at all.
The government
needs to incentivize responsible behavior by allowing non-monetary access
to the complex, which anyone can take advantage of. It allows tenants to
partly substitute and entirely pay the rent by in kind or through greater
social participation. It enables tenants to allocate their money for other
pressing needs, paying utility bills and opens investment to higher
economic and educational rungs of the ladder.
This is why
Jakarta has to do it differently. The transformation could be done through
the following ways.
Parents who
have arrears could receive deductions by proving their children’s good
educational performance, so parents should never choose between paying
their rent or supporting children’s schooling. This assures that the best
interests of the children are fulfilled.
House sitting
allows people to stay in a unit, as an exchange they have to maintain its
cleanliness, safety and keep the appliances and equipment functioning
throughout their stay. This will prevent burglaries and keep public and
private social investment worth of billions of rupiah sustainable.
Mimicking tax
deduction through charitable contributions, participating in community work
or other communal voluntary activities such as evening patrols, better
waste disposal and keeping the public space and facilities clean and safe,
could all be used to deduct arrears or rent fees. This way all people can
take responsibility and ownership of community transformation.
Similar to the
Payment for Environmental Services, tenants who keep the environment clean
and maintain public health are paid in a form of partial or full rental
deductions on a monthly basis. This way, garbage separation, reuse,
reduction and recycling can take place.
A
community-based mini carbon sequester scheme is also viable. Those who have
cars could list how many breadwinners owning motor vehicles use their cars
each day. Furthermore, if a car can carry six people, traffic congestion
will be curbed. This could be used to deduct rental fees.
For those who
need the money, they could apply for rent fee cash back. The community or
the management could decide the amount. This could be done if tenants pay
rent on time for one year, or participate in community work. Kind and
responsible tenants deserve the rewards they wish for.
Expanded
market-based approaches could also be applied by reawakening Marunda as
tourist destination. Ask a famous chef to donate a special recipe for a
Marunda food court seller, be it Pitung fried rice, or martabak Marunda, or
any. Ask a famous artist to decorate an empty public space or ask a famous
architect to add a bit of style to the local landscape. Organize a yearly
Marunda festival or have TV programs air their show from Marunda public
spaces. All of these ideas should be organized by the community and the
management, with the profit going to rental fee deductions.
Responsible
people with any income deserve proper housing, and simultaneously should
conserve the environment. This will achieve national economic and social
goals through social participation. The value of money may decrease over
time, but citizenship should increase over time. Any housing complex could
and should spearhead social, economic and environmental development.
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