The Scavenging activity: A Socio-economic perspective :: A Case study in Cirebon District

DANGI, Jan Fransen, MA., dan Dr.Ir. Leksono Probo Subanu, MURP.,Ph.D

2007 | Tesis | Magister Perencanaan Kota dan Daerah

Saat ini pembangunan wilayah perkotaan sangat pesat dengan berbagai aktivitas dan fasilitas. Tentu, ini akan meningkatkan jumlah sampah. Sampah yang dapat di daur ulang mempunyai nilai ekonomi bagi para pemulung. Sebagai sumber pendapatan, keberlanjutan aktivitas pemulung adalah hal penting dan untuk mendukung aktivitasnya, mereka melakukan berbagai cara atau strategis dalam menggunakan modal finansial dan sosial. Sebagai sebuah fenomena sosioekonomi, keberlanjutannya merupakan fenomena yang menarik. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengeksplorasi bagaimana mereka menggunakan modal social dan finansial untuk meningkatkan outcome. Melalui penelitian ini diharapkan akan diperoleh pemahaman yang lebih baik terhadap aktivitas pemulung yang dapat digunakan sebagai input dalam perumusan kebijakan pemerintah daerah di dalam pemberantasan kemiskinan, pengurangan kerentanan, peningkatan income dan terintegrasinya pengelolaan sampah. Penelitian ini adalah sebuah penelitian studi kasus deskriptif eksploratif dengan pendekatan metode kualitatif. Jumlah responden sebanyak 25 rumah tangga yang dipilih dengan cara cluster dan purposive sampling. Mereka tinggal di Desa Gegesik Wetan Kec. Gegesik Kab. Cirebon Jawa Barat. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa mereka adalah bukan masyarakat yang paling miskin tetapi mereka adalah kelompok masyarakat yang rentan. Mereka mempunyai struktur social, networking dan interaksi social sebagai modal social. Struktur social meliputi hubungan vertikal (linking), patron client (bonding) and horisontal (bridging). Hubungan patron client menciptakan sebuah mekanisme pasar monopsonistik. Pemerintah daerah tidak mempunyai kebijakan terkait dengan perkembangan aktivitas pemulung. Mereka tidak mendapatkan bantuan dari NGO atau organisasi kemasyarakatan. Mereka mempunyai berbagai strategi untuk menjaga keberlanjutan mereka yaitu mengurangi kerentanan seperti menjaga kesehatan, hubungan social, persiapan peralatan sebelum berangkat, meminjam sejumlah uang ke middlemen dan yang lainnya sebagai pendapatan semu. Sementara untuk meningkatkan pendapatan, mereka membeli sampah dengan harga yang paling murah dan menjual dengan harga yang lebih tinggi, menyimpan sampah daur ulang yang bernilai ekonomi tinggi dan memilah sampah sebelum dijual.

Nowadays, urban area development is very fast with the various activities and facilities. Of course, it would generate solid waste number as impact of those activities. The recycle solid waste has economic value resources for the scavengers. As main income source, the sustainable scavenging activity is an important thing and to support their activity, they conduct various ways or strategies in usage their financial and social capital which must be understood through the socioeconomic system. This study deals with the informal recycle solid waste system in Cirebon District, West Java Province, Indonesia. As a socioeconomic phenomenon in the local community, its sustainability is an impressive phenomenon where it has been becoming their livelihood. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how they use their social capital and financial capital to improve their livelihood outcome. Through this research, hopefully, it will be gotten the better understanding of the scavenging activity that can be used as input to make design of local governmental policies in poverty reduction, reducing vulnerability, improving income and in integrated solid waste management. Theoretical construction and an actor-oriented approach have been used, based on the interaction between the actors within the system, in order to explain why actors within the system act in the way that they do and why the system has developed in the way it has. It is a case study research (descriptive exploratory) with the qualitative methodology approach. The number of respondents is 25 households who have been staying in Gegesik Wetan Village where determining respondent is done through cluster and purposive sampling. It shows that the scavenging activity is main livelihood for the household of scavengers in Gegesik Wetan Village, Cirebon District. They are not poorest of the poor people but they are vulnerable people. They have social structure, networking and interaction as their social capital. The social structure includes the vertical (linking), patron client (bonding) and horizontal relationship (bridging). The vertical relationship can be described through a relationship between the local government and the middlemen and scavengers. In this relationship, it has more power and top down system in the policies design. The patron client relationship is shown through a relationship between the middlemen and scavengers, and the horizontal relationship occurred through a relationship between the community and scavengers, and between them. Their network is only conducted base on trustworthiness between them. Their activity is an individual activity. However, they have social norm to help each another. Social interaction with among people give much advantages and can become trigger for scavenger within improving their income. Through this relationship, they will get more information especially from the local community in scavenging activity where recycle solid waste is. It means that they will get more recycle solid waste. Finally, they have important role within improving their livelihood outcome. As the informal economic activity in SWM system, a patron client relationship between scavenger and middlemen creates a monopsonistic market mechanism where the middlemen have higher position than the scavengers because the middlemen have a monopoly. They have no bargaining position with the middlemen. Moreover, the activities have showed to be economically viable and to play an important role in their livelihood. It is argued that a lack of a formal system for the recovery of solid waste materials has made it possible for the informal sector to fill the gap that the government leaves. It is conducted with barter and cash by money. Further, the local government hasn’t the policies related with socioeconomic developing scavenging activity. They don’t get assistance from NGO or CBO. They have some strategies to keep sustainable their activity, which are to reduce their vulnerability such as to keep their health, good social network and interaction, good preparation of their equipments before they work, to borrow amount money to the middlemen and others as income smoothing; while to improve their income, they conduct to buy the recycle solid waste with the cheaper price and to sell it with higher price, to save economic value of recycle solid waste, and to separate recycle solid waste before it is sold.

Kata Kunci : Pemulung Sampah Daur Ulang,Modal Sosial dan Finansial, scavenging activity, scavenger, recycle solid waste, social and financial capital