“If a city is friendly to people with disabilities, friendly to early childhood, friendly to the elderly, then automatically the city will be friendly to all.” (Anies Baswedan, September 2019).
THE capital city being disabled friendly city is one of Anies Baswedan’s campaign promises in the 2017 Jakarta Governor election. To realize this promise, Anies Baswedan focuses on building hard infrastructure facilities such as roads, buildings, and transportation tools and soft infrastructure such as equality and learning and trying opportunities.
Highways with Pedestrian Bridges (JPO), stops, and sidewalks, are not only beautiful and attractive, but made as comfortable as possible for all levels of society, including elderly groups, and people with disabilities.
City parks and children’s playgrounds are scattered throughout the capital, which are friendly to people with disabilities.
Related to social protection for people with disabilities, one of the programs that has been running is the provision of Jakarta Disability Card (KPDJ) to almost 10 thousand people, with assistance funds of IDR 300 thousand per person every month. This KPDJ can be disbursed every three months with a cumulative amount.
Other benefits received by KPDJ holders in the form of ease in using public facilities such as free Transjakarta rides; food subsidies in Jakgrosir in the form of rice, beef, chicken, fish, and eggs; as well as discounts for every purchase of daily necessities.
Recently, the provincial government of Jakarta together with PT MRT Jakarta launched a digital service facility that is friendly for people with disabilities, namely DINA (Digital Intelligence Assistant) at a number of MRT stations.
DINA is the first initiative in Indonesia, and fourth in the world after the US, Canada, and Hong Kong. The planning process involves people with disabilities to suit the needs of those who need different treatments.
“DINA facilities are a marker that people with disabilities can go anywhere. If they need service support, they can get it through DINA,” Anies said when inaugurating the facility some time ago.
Furthermore, through the Jakarta Collaboration platform, the Jakarta provincial government cooperates with nongovernmental partners including philanthropic institutions in empowering people with disabilities in the capital. National Amil Zakat Agency (BAZIZ) of the Capital City of Jakarta, for example, initiated a special program for people with disabilities in Jakarta to help, protect and empower them.
Non-productive disabled groups who generally come from poor families are given free meal vouchers. This voucher can be claimed through the application in the partner’s stall by eating at the stall or the stall manager delivering food to the beneficiary’s home. This aid has been running for two years and feeds daily to more than a thousand beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, the young disabled group is given certified training according to their interests and potential such as training packages for Culinary Art and Graphic Design for the deaf.
For the young disabled group, specifically BAZNAS BAZIS Jakarta initiated the Difabis program.
Through Difabis, people with disabilities build communities and networks and train and hone their entrepreneurial skills, especially to increase confidence in marketing products. In the early stages, a tea and coffee-based beverage booth was made along with cakes and other food in open public around Jakarta.
In addition, Difabis carries out various activities, ranging from barista training and coffee machine workshops for deaf people, coffee and tea shops as a place for barista training applications that have been implemented, online marketing training and its application in Difabis stores, to bazaar activities carried out by the Ministry.
Difabis is the best storefront for people with disabilities to showcase their potential and skills. It is also expected to provide experiences to users of the third space, namely the space between home and work to get an equal and inclusive interaction experience.
In the implementation of the Difabis program, BAZNAS BAZIS Jakarta collaborates with many parties, including, Jakarta’s Office of Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperative Trade Industry (PPKUKM) through the Jakpreneur program as a regulator and companion, PT MRT as a regional provider, KAPDI (Indonesian Disability Advocacy Committee) Jakarta, SMKN 32 Jakarta, SMKN 6 Jakarta and Special Needs School of Santirama Jakarta, MSMEs in Jakarta and outside Jakarta as product providers for dissaved stores, as well as print and electronic media as a presenter of information about Difabis to the public.
Baznas BAZIS Difabis Program that has been running for almost one year provides benefits directly to dozens of people with disabilities, including deaf people and the disabled. They became more confident and now some of them have been accepted to work in a larger company in Jakarta. The most important impact is to be ordained as a bridge connecting the power of disabled groups and the general public.
In the near future, with collaboration commitments from BUMD companies such as MRT and Trans Jakarta, DIFABIS booths will be replicated at several other stations in Jakarta. Hopefully with the more Difabis shops established, more and more people with disabilities are helped and more people will have a better understanding and appreciate disabilities.
With the positive impact that people receive and the number of people with disabilities who have not been empowered, inclusive programs such as Difabis have considerable opportunities to be continued, developed and replicated in Jakarta and other regions in Indonesia.
(Abdurrahman Syebubakar, Chairman of the Board of Ideas and Alumnus of Mataram University/UNRAM)
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