Jail for giving to beggars in Indonesia

Residents in one Indonesian city who give in to the tug of guilt could face three months in jail under a law criminalising giving money to beggars and street children, the city's mayor says.

The new regulation approved last month by the legislative council in Makassar, South Sulawesi, is aimed at reducing the city's swelling population of beggars, Mayor Ilham Arif Sirajuddin told AFP.

"Under the law, people who give money to beggars will be jailed up to three months or have to pay a maximum fine of 1.5 million rupiah ($A170)," he said.

"This is an important decision to clear beggars from the streets," Sirajuddin said, adding that beggars and street children face maximum sentences of three years in jail or fines up to five million rupiah.

The crackdown has been matched by a program to train beggars for work, he said.

The population of beggars and street children in Makassar jumped from 870 in 2006 to 2,600 this year, he said.