Brilio.net/en - Late that Sunday afternoon, under Jakartas scorching sun, sat a bony, elderly man, nearly unseen among the hustle and bustle of the Big Durian. His dark complexion, sculpted by time, hidden under a crumpled fishing hat he was wearing. While people were busy with their weekend leisurely activities, the old man, people call him Pak Sadi, was sitting in the shadow of his nearly-empty wooden cart, taking a short break in the middle of the activity of scrapwood-searching he was doing.
Yes, Sadis livelihood depends heavily on pieces of scrap wood he would spend long hours searchingin different corners of the city. He has no home and used to sleep in a security post in the residential area of Cipinang Muara, East Jakarta.
Sadi wandering through residential and industrial areas to collect scrap wood.
2016 brilio.net/Retno Wulandari
I did this wood-scavenging job for quite a long time, maybe around 2010, said Sadi. Before this, I used to help to level up the land to prevent the flood. I did that job since the 1970s, but had to stop in 2010 because the demand has sharply dropped.
He operates around the Cipinang and Pondok Bambu area in East Jakarta and sells the collected scrap wood to a nearby tofu factory where they are used in the cooking process. The factory pays Rp 30,000 for a full cart of woodsmall number compared with the effort to collect them.
Its hard to find scrap wood nowadays. I used to walk as far as Pondok Bambu and Cipinang penitentiary (roughly 7 kilometers) to collect a single cart. When I was lucky, I can collect two cartsof wood a day, but if not, Im kinda used to get back empty-handed. No woods, no food to eat. But Im used to that, said the 74-year-old.
In Jakarta, Sadi lives alone. From one perspective, that might be a bright side, as he only has one tummy to feed. But when asked about his family, the homeless mans face turned gloomy. Due to the high cost of the rent in Jakarta, all of his family returned to their homeland years ago, in the village of Sindanglaut, Cirebon, West Java. He hasnt seen them for years, and now hes dying to see his children, grandchildren, and his infant great-grandchild.
Once I managed to collect enough money to come home, I just want to go and see my family again, he said, wistfully.