A THOUSAND NEW DRUG USERS EVERYDAY: FATHER SOMAR

JAKARTA (JP): A 12-year-old girl approaches a sweet corn seller in Blok M,
South Jakarta. "Pak, your tummy looks so chubby. I have just the right
thing for you," she tells him.

The girl opens her palm, showing him a small pack of shabu-shabu (crystal
metamphetamine).

"This is a very good drug. It'll make you thinner in three days.
Guaranteed. If not, you can have your money back," she says.

The sweet corn seller that particular afternoon was Father Lambertus Somar,
head of the Kasih Mulia Foundation, an NGO that works with drug and alcohol
addicts.

He was in disguise to gather more information about drug selling on
Jakarta's streets.

He said he found out that the girl lived in a slum area somewhere behind
Blok M with seven other younger sisters and brothers.

"We can see how easy it is to get drugs nowadays: at every level of society.

"The girl sold drugs everyday to make a living. Amazingly, the girl herself
was not a user. She knows what it does to people. It turns out she was the
family's breadwinner," 68-year-old Somar told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

At least 1,000 people in the country are introduced to drugs everyday, said
Somar, a priest who is also famous for his natural healing abilities. He
has been practicing alternative medicine since 1982.

Out of the around two million drug addicts in the country, 17 percent of
them eventually die as a result of their habit, he said.

"The number of addicts this year has soared up to 1,000 percent compared to
the number in 1996. This year, no less than 166 high schools in Jakarta
have students that are affected by drugs. Drugs are killing our young
people. It's getting worse because people just don't care," he said.

The Kasih Mulia Foundation has 20 staff members that work with patients
from all different religions and ethnic backgrounds.

"We use a different approach for every patient. We have treated more than
60 people this year, aged between 17 and 39 years old," he said.

A willingness to be cured and to have a healthy life has got to come from
the addicts' themselves, he said.

A workshop program has also set up to help recovering addicts find jobs and
rebuild their lives.

"It needs at least three to five years for addicts to become fully cured.
In most cases, drug addicts end up with damaged nervous systems as well as
lung and liver illnesses.

"Most of our patients cannot afford to pay for the treatment, which is Rp 3
million per month. Most of them can only pay between Rp 5,000 and Rp
100,000," he said.

The foundation now has seven rehab centers in west, south and North Jakarta
as well as in Tangerang.

Its main center is in Stella Maris Monastery on Jl. Taman Pluit Permai
Timur in North Jakarta.

In an effort to raise money for a new rehabilitation center in Cisaat,
Sukabumi, West Java, the foundation and its sponsor PT Makindo Tbk. is
auctioning a number of paintings and sculptures by several artists,
including Srihadi Soedarsono, Arie Smit, Widayanto, G. Sidharta, at Hotel
Gran Melia on Thursday.

Initial construction of the center on a seven-hectare plot in Cisaat is
expected to start next month. The center will have the capacity to
accommodate 300 patients.

A "one-stop service" drug clinic complete with a prevention and information
center is also set to be built early next year in Slipi, West Jakarta.

The Kasih Mulia foundation is located at Jl. Camar Indah I, Blok DD 10, in
Ruko Pantai Indah Kapuk, North Jakarta. Interested parties can call (021)
588-103. (edt)