Pekalongan Indonesia

8/2/2019 Pekalongan Indonesia

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F R E E F R O M S U B S T A N D A R D H O U S E S A N D

C I T Y W I T H O U T S L U M P R O G R A M

PEKALONGAN, INDONESIA


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BRIEF

Classification: Best Practice

City / Town / Village: Pekalongan, Central Java

Country: Indonesia

Region: Asia

Name of Contact Person: dr. HM Basyir Ahmad (Mayor of Pekalongan): Mobile no. +62-816669321Address:

Street address Jalan Mataram no. 1

P.O. Box

City/Town Pekalongan, Central Java

Postal Code

Country INDONESIA

Telephone +62-285-421169 / +62-285-7905333

Fax +62-285-421169E-mail [email protected]

Type of Organisation: Local Authority


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CATEGORY OF PRACTICES

Categories of PracticePoverty Reduction

- Income generation

- Job creation

- Access to credit

Social Services

- Education

- Health and welfare

- Access to social services

Housing

- Access to housing finance

- Land tenure and security

Level activity: City/Town

Eco system: Tropical/Sub-Tropical


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SUMMARY

The aim of Pekalongan Free from Slums by 2010 program is to create a better livingenvironment and increase the welfare of the poor population of Pekalongan City. The target till2010 is to increase the welfare of 31.461 poor households (48.4 % of total number of householdsin Pekalongan) and from those poor households improve the housing conditions of 5,068households that are currently living in inadequate housing conditions spread in 286 locations.If the municipality used only their own resources, it is estimated that it would take up to 21 yearsto tackle the problem of poverty and slums. This led the Mayor to introduce a strategy known asStrategi Sapu Lidi, that is synergizing resources from various institutions (centralgovernment, local government, private sector, community) to tackle poverty eradication andslum upgrading. The funds for infrastructure are in the form of grants, while funds for homeimprovements and housing construction are in the form of rotating funds channeled throughlocal cooperatives. Charity is avoided, as it contradicts the principles of community

empowerment.As of December 2007, the number of poor households decreased significantly by 27.9%, totaling22.683 households. improved the housing conditions of 3.026 units or 60% of the target,increased access funds to 92 clusters of poor households (from the total of 105 poor clusters),improve greenery in 105 locations and establish Business Development Groups in 92 clusters ofpoor households.


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IMPORTANT DATES

Key Dates:March 2, 2006 The State Ministry of Housing held the National Workshop for Housing thePoor in Solo, which provided information and insights on current housing policies andstrategies, in particular that local government should manage and synergize available resourcesto tackle poverty and housing issues.

April 26, 2006 the Mayor of Pekalongan (dr. Basyir Ahmad) and Head of PekalonganCommunity Empowerment Board (Mrs. Candra) met with the State Ministry of Housing tofollow-up on financial and technical assistance to support poverty alleviation and housing thepoor program.

July 12, 2006 on the celebration of Cooperative Day in Pekalongan, the Mayor launched the

Pekalongan Free from Slums by 2010 program.

May 23, 2007- workshop inviting related government and non-government institutions todiscuss program coordination and integration for


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NARRATIVE

SITUATION BEFORE THE INITIATIVE BEGANPekalongan city is known as the City of Batik and major industrial area for fishery produce.Despite high potential in economic development, there were still 31.461 poor households (48.4% of the total population) living under the poverty level in inadequate housing with poorinfrastructure conditions, leading to poor health.ESTABLISHMENT OF PRIORITIESEstablishing database on poor households (housing condition, tenure status, health and income)

by the local government in cooperation with the Central Bureau Statistics, Central Java.Establish Housing Working Group (Pokja Perumahan) consisting of local officials,representatives of local NGOs and concerned individuals to improve coordination amongstsectors related to housing development. In Pekalongan the Housing Working Group is the sameas the Poverty Working Group.Classify settlements based on condition of housing and infrastructure, to determine prioritylocations

Organize communities and local cooperatives through the local Community EmpowermentBoard. Communities must submit proposal for home improvement/house construction to theBoard, who will evaluate the proposals and determine eligible household groups.Disburse funds to eligible households groupsMonitoring and evaluation of program by Poverty/Housing Working Group.


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FORMULATION OF OBJECTIVES AND STRATERGIES

Provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were

established and by whom.

The objectives of the program is to create a better living environment and improve the welfare ofthe urban poor. The strategy is through community empowerment and coordination ofresources for social, economic and environmental development.

Economic empowerment is conducted by the Local Office for Cooperatives and Small BusinessDevelopment through training, technical assistance and funds for small business. Socialempowerment is conducted through the Family Program for Family Welfare (ProgramKesejahteraan Keluarga) that focuses on enhancing womens knowledge in health,household skills, home economics etc.Funding for home improvement/house construction are provided through micro-credit (throughbanks) and rotating funds (through cooperatives). Communities must organize themselves in

groups before accessing micro-credit or rotating funds.

The Pekalongan Community Empowerment Board (Bapermas) monitors and evaluates theprogram. Technical assistance in housing development is provided by facilitators that arerecruited by the Board.


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MOBILISATION OF RESOURCES

Financial resources come from: municipal budget, provincial budget, central government

budget, private sector (Corporate Social Responsibility Fund) and local community. Prior to2005, most of these resources came through different sectors of central government institutions(Ministry of Public Works, State Ministry of Cooperatives and Small Business Enterprises,Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Health etc) which were implemented according to theagencys schedule and not well coordinated at the municipal level..Since 2006 the Pekalongan Local Planning Agency and Poverty/Housing Working Group has

focused on coordinating the budget from various sector programs, as well as involve the privatesector and local community resources. The programs are classified into three major themes:environmental development (including infrastructure and housing), economic development andsocial development. The local governments strategy is to prioritize poor urban settlements,where local communities have already identified their needs and formulated a communityaction plan (CAP), and have organized themselves into household groups.The resources are targeted at priority areas that require immediate attention. Resources from

various sources are synergized and focus on tackling priority areas. In the process, manyinstitutions (government and non-government) have offered to join and assist in the program,and the program is gaining wide support from local communities and the private sector.


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PROCESS

The major problem was changing the paradigm from top-down approach to more participatory approach, from

fragmented planning to a more coordinated planning system, as well as from charity to empowermentapproach. The poverty alleviation program had gone through trial and error. Starting with top-down approachand charity, the local government learned a lesson that helping the poor was not about giving them money, butempowering them so they could become more responsible, gain access to income generating activities.The key person in initiating this change was the Mayor of Pekalongan, dr. Basyir Ahmad, who was elected in2005. He began by raising awareness in public health and the importance of living in a clean and decenthousing environment, which lead to the Pekalongan: Free from Sub-standard Houses by 2008 and Free from

Slums by 2010 Program. The major strategy of this program was to coordinate and synergize resources fromvarious sectors to support this program. The strategy is known as Strategi Sapu Lidi. Lidi is a long ribfrom palm leaf. When a bunch of lidi are tied together, it creates a strong and useful tool (depending on thesize of the rib) such as a broom or a bed beater.Since 2004, the Local Community Empowerment Board, Bapermas had already facilitated participatoryplanning at the grass roots level through the Forum Rembug Warga (Community Discussion Forum). Themunicipality channels funds known as Dana Bantuan Prakarsa Masyarakat (Funding for CommunityInitiatives) to every Kelurahan, where communities can discuss how these funding are used at the community

level (CAP Community Action Plan). In addition to these funds, the Pekalongan municipality provides freeEvery Wednesday night, the municipal government holds a forum that is attended by the Mayor and heads oflocal agencies. The forum shows videos of various parts of the city, proposals from the community anddiscusses how the local municipality can intervene to improve the city and welfare of their citizens. Thisroutine event has been able to change the perspective of local government officials. Through this meeting, theybecome more sensitive to the needs of the local community, have the opportunity to reflect on their policiesand programs and create appropriate programs.


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RESULTSActual improvement in peoples living conditions can be seen in the following figures: Reduction of poverty from 31.461 households in 2005 to 22.683 households or 27.9% by the end of 2007

(based on data from Pekalongan Statistics Bureau)

Better coordination amongst institutions (government and non-government) that support the Cities withoutSlums and poverty alleviation program. The weekly Wednesday meetings amongst officials has helped to raiseawareness, change the perception on approaches to poverty alleviation, and better coordinate programstargeted at the urban poor.

Prior to 2005, most projects focused on infrastructure development with the main entry point through the

Public Works Agency. Social-economic development programs have already been conducted, but were not thefocal point of development. Since 2005, a major shift in Pekalongan city development was the emphasis oncommunity empowerment and synergizing resources, in particular targeted at urban poor communities.Another major change is the multi-stakeholder interest for poverty alleviation.

The City of Pekalongan has received awards from the Ministry of Public Works (Award for InfrastructureDevelopment), State Ministry of Cooperatives and Small-Medium Business Enterprises (Award for

Cooperative Development) and Metro TV-MDG Award (as a finalist) acknowledging the significance of theirachievements in poverty alleviation and slum upgrading.

On the community side, there has been a dynamic snowball effect. Since the initial support from the localgovernment, communities have become more creative and pro-active. Renovated homes have become a sourceof income, because the community can use the improved space for income-generating activities. They are alsofinding ways to continue to improve their housing environment. In some areas, communities have managedwaste with the 3R principles and have been able to produce compost and handicraft from recycled materials.


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SUSTAINABILITY

The use and leveraging of resources, including cost recovery, indicating how loans, if any, are being paid back

and their terms and conditions.Financial resources included grants from the State Ministry of Housing that are used as a stimulant tostrengthen local cooperatives, as well as central government funds channeled through local agencies,Corporate Social Responsibility Funds from the private sector and local community funds.Rotating funds for housing development are channeled through local cooperatives with a minimumadministration fee (2%) paid back in 1-2 years. The organization of households into small groups creates peerpressure to return the loans and create a more accountable process.

Social-economic development and gender equality has been promoted throughout the program in particular inthe management of rotating funds. In general, it is acknowledged that women are better managers when itcomes to credit and rotating funds. Most community groups that perform better are led by women. Therefore,the role of women is highly encouraged in these programs.The programs are categorized into social development, economic development andenvironment/infrastructure development. Social and economic development comes first, which is followed bythe home improvement/construction program after the community has improved their economic condition.Cultural: Respect for and consideration of attitudes, behaviour patterns and heritage. The social development

process was conducted through religious activities such as local pengajian he upgrading of housingenvironment respected local traditions and behaviour patterns such as fishermen were provided with facilitiesto support fishery produce, and house improvements accommodated home-based industries, such as batik,handicrafts. House construction is also based on local practices.Legal to support the program the Pekalongan Municipality has issued several policies and regulations suchas pro-poor development policies, technical guidelines for the implementation of stimulants for community-based housing development and tax exemptions for the urban poor.


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LESSONS LEARNED

Lessons learned in this program are:

Good leadership Dr. Basyir Ahmad has led the way for Pekalongan to focus on improving the quality of lifeof the urban poor through a coordinated and synergized approach. Mayor Basyir Ahmad created a commonvision that is pro-poor that can tie various programs from various sectors/ institutions.The importance of empowering people by not providing charity programs. In previous programs, housingassistance was in the form of grants. People did not seem to appreciate the grants as the funds were not usedfor the intended purpose, rather for consumptive items. Also because it was a grant, there was little controlover how people used the money. By providing micro-credit and rotating funds, people become more

responsible and accountable for their actions. Mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the funds are set-upwithin the community organizations and at the city level through the Working Group.Changing the paradigm of development from top-down to participatory planning is a process that requires thecommitment of various stakeholders, and in particular the local government to be consistent in achieving theirvision, gaining the trust of the community and stakeholders, and realizing their commitment in local laws andregulations that are enforced accordingly.


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TRANSFER

The mayor of Pekalongan has been invited by various institutions and the media toshare his experience in implementing the Pekalongan Free from Slums program. Inparticular interest to other local governments is the coordination and synchronizationof various funded programs.The program could be replicated in other cities, under the condition that there is

political support and commitment that is shown in the city budget and local laws, andthe city has set up a multi-stakeholder Working Group that supports the povertyalleviation and housing for the poor. Other cities around Indonesia have visitedPekalongan to learn more about their program.The State Ministry of Housing has acknowledged Pekalongan as a model forcity-wide housing development. The Ministry has included the experience of

Pekalongan City in their exhibition and informational material. They are currentlycompiling best practices in human settlement development, in which the experienceof Pekalongan will be included.The National TV and Metro TV has broadcasted a documentary on PekalongansExperience in Achieving the Free from Sub-standard Houses and City without SlumProgram

Pekalongan Indonesia

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