PEKALONGAN, INDONESIA

FREE FROM SUBSTANDARD HOUSES AND CITY WITHOUT SLUM PROGRAM

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. +62-816669321 Address: 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 +62-285-421169 E-mail bapermas_kb@yahoo.co.id

Type of Organisation: Local Authority

CATEGORY OF PRACTICES
Categories of Practice Poverty 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

SUMMARY
The aim of Pekalongan Free from Slums by 2010 program is to create a better living environment and increase the welfare of the poor population of Pekalongan City. The target till 2010 is to increase the welfare of 31.461 poor households (48.4 % of total number of households in Pekalongan) and from those poor households improve the housing conditions of 5,068 households 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 years to tackle the problem of poverty and slums. This led the Mayor to introduce a strategy known as Strategi Sapu Lidi, that is synergizing resources from various institutions (central government, local government, private sector, community) to tackle poverty eradication and slum upgrading. The funds for infrastructure are in the form of grants, while funds for home improvements and housing construction are in the form of rotating funds channeled through local 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%, totaling 22.683 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 of poor households.

IMPORTANT DATES
Key Dates: March 2, 2006 The State Ministry of Housing held the National Workshop for Housing the Poor in Solo, which provided information and insights on current housing policies and strategies, in particular that local government should manage and synergize available resources to tackle poverty and housing issues. April 26, 2006 the Mayor of Pekalongan (dr. Basyir Ahmad) and Head of Pekalongan Community Empowerment Board (Mrs. Candra) met with the State Ministry of Housing to follow-up on financial and technical assistance to support poverty alleviation and housing the poor 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 to discuss program coordination and integration for

NARRATIVE
SITUATION BEFORE THE INITIATIVE BEGAN Pekalongan 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 poor infrastructure conditions, leading to poor health. ESTABLISHMENT OF PRIORITIES Establishing 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 amongst sectors related to housing development. In Pekalongan the Housing Working Group is the same as the Poverty Working Group. Classify settlements based on condition of housing and infrastructure, to determine priority locations Organize communities and local cooperatives through the local Community Empowerment Board. Communities must submit proposal for home improvement/house construction to the Board, who will evaluate the proposals and determine eligible household groups. Disburse funds to eligible households groups Monitoring and evaluation of program by Poverty/Housing Working Group.

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 of the urban poor. The strategy is through community empowerment and coordination of resources for social, economic and environmental development. Economic empowerment is conducted by the Local Office for Cooperatives and Small Business Development through training, technical assistance and funds for small business. Social empowerment is conducted through the Family Program for Family Welfare (Program Kesejahteraan 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 (through banks) 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 the program. Technical assistance in housing development is provided by facilitators that are recruited by the Board.

MOBILISATION OF RESOURCES
Financial resources come from: municipal budget, provincial budget, central government budget, private sector (Corporate Social Responsibility Fund) and local community. Prior to 2005, 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 the agencys 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 private sector and local community resources. The programs are classified into three major themes: environmental development (including infrastructure and housing), economic development and social development. The local governments strategy is to prioritize poor urban settlements, where local communities have already identified their needs and formulated a community action 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, many institutions (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.

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 empowerment approach. The poverty alleviation program had gone through trial and error. Starting with top-down approach and charity, the local government learned a lesson that helping the poor was not about giving them money, but empowering 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 in 2005. He began by raising awareness in public health and the importance of living in a clean and decent housing 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 from various sectors to support this program. The strategy is known as Strategi Sapu Lidi. Lidi is a long rib from palm leaf. When a bunch of lidi are tied together, it creates a strong and useful tool (depending on the size of the rib) such as a broom or a bed beater. Since 2004, the Local Community Empowerment Board, Bapermas had already facilitated participatory planning at the grass roots level through the Forum Rembug Warga (Community Discussion Forum). The municipality channels funds known as Dana Bantuan Prakarsa Masyarakat (Funding for Community Initiatives) 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 free Every Wednesday night, the municipal government holds a forum that is attended by the Mayor and heads of local agencies. The forum shows videos of various parts of the city, proposals from the community and discusses how the local municipality can intervene to improve the city and welfare of their citizens. This routine event has been able to change the perspective of local government officials. Through this meeting, they become more sensitive to the needs of the local community, have the opportunity to reflect on their policies and programs and create appropriate programs.

RESULTS
Actual 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 without Slums and poverty alleviation program. The weekly Wednesday meetings amongst officials has helped to raise awareness, change the perception on approaches to poverty alleviation, and better coordinate programs targeted 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 the focal point of development. Since 2005, a major shift in Pekalongan city development was the emphasis on community 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 Infrastructure Development), 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 their achievements in poverty alleviation and slum upgrading. On the community side, there has been a dynamic snowball effect. Since the initial support from the local government, communities have become more creative and pro-active. Renovated homes have become a source of income, because the community can use the improved space for income-generating activities. They are also finding ways to continue to improve their housing environment. In some areas, communities have managed waste with the 3R principles and have been able to produce compost and handicraft from recycled materials.

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 to strengthen 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 minimum administration fee (2%) paid back in 1-2 years. The organization of households into small groups creates peer pressure to return the loans and create a more accountable process. Social-economic development and gender equality has been promoted throughout the program in particular in the management of rotating funds. In general, it is acknowledged that women are better managers when it comes 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 and environment/infrastructure development. Social and economic development comes first, which is followed by the 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 housing environment respected local traditions and behaviour patterns such as fishermen were provided with facilities to 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 such as pro-poor development policies, technical guidelines for the implementation of stimulants for communitybased housing development and tax exemptions for the urban poor.

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 life of the urban poor through a coordinated and synergized approach. Mayor Basyir Ahmad created a common vision 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, housing assistance was in the form of grants. People did not seem to appreciate the grants as the funds were not used for the intended purpose, rather for consumptive items. Also because it was a grant, there was little control over 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-up within 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 the commitment of various stakeholders, and in particular the local government to be consistent in achieving their vision, gaining the trust of the community and stakeholders, and realizing their commitment in local laws and regulations that are enforced accordingly.

TRANSFER
The mayor of Pekalongan has been invited by various institutions and the media to share his experience in implementing the Pekalongan Free from Slums program. In particular interest to other local governments is the coordination and synchronization of 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, and the city has set up a multi-stakeholder Working Group that supports the poverty alleviation and housing for the poor. Other cities around Indonesia have visited Pekalongan to learn more about their program. The State Ministry of Housing has acknowledged Pekalongan as a model for city-wide housing development. The Ministry has included the experience of Pekalongan City in their exhibition and informational material. They are currently compiling best practices in human settlement development, in which the experience of Pekalongan will be included. The National TV and Metro TV has broadcasted a documentary on Pekalongans Experience in Achieving the Free from Sub-standard Houses and City without Slum Program