Tangerang to build shelter for beggars

In an attempt to improve its response to social problems, Tangerang municipal administration plans to build a rehabilitation center for beggars and homeless people.

Agus R. Wahyudin, the chief of rehabilitation and social counseling at the municipal social service agency, said the center would be built on a one-hectare plot of land in Neglasari district later this year.

“The administration has allocated Rp 5 billion from the regional budget to finance the construction of the shelter and have prepared a master plan for the project,” he said Tuesday.

Agus said in the absence of a rehabilitation center and shelter, the administration was currently accommodating homeless people, netted in a series of raids, at a dormitory belonging to Persikota football club in Neglasari.

“We are currently training 174 people with skills to support themselves. They were netted on the streets and most were patients at Sitanala Leprosy Hospital,” he said.

The agency has also sent five of the people to Bekasi Rehabilitation Center every month for additional training.