Cards for poor families distributed<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Bandung\/Makassar\/Medan<\/p>\n
State postal company PT Pos Indonesia, which has been given the
\ntask of printing special cards for those entitled to government
\nassistance funds, has printed and distributed 3.6 million cards
\nin 15 towns across the country.<\/p>\n
This accounts for 23 percent of the cards that will be
\ndistributed to 15,648,425 low-income families which will receive
\nRp 300,000 (nearly US$30) in assistance funds over three months.
\nThe aid is intended to ease the impact of the fuel price hike
\nscheduled to come into effect on Oct. 1.<\/p>\n
The company's president director, Hana Suryana, expected all
\nthe cards to be printed by Oct. 11.<\/p>\n
In the coming three days, the company would print 2.4 million
\nentitlement cards.<\/p>\n
The government has identified the families which will be
\nentitled to receive the cash handouts based on a survey conducted
\nby the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). Only families with a
\ngross monthly income of Rp 700,000 or less are eligible to
\nreceive the assistance. The money will be paid out in three
\nstages, starting on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The overall number of those entitled looks set to increase,
\nhowever, as the BPS has yet to conduct surveys in the tsunami-
\nstruck regencies of South Nias and North Nias on Nias island.<\/p>\n
An official with the provincial office of the BPS, Panusunan
\nSiregar, told The Jakarta Post that his office was cooperating
\nwith donor countries to update population data in the two
\nregencies, including the number of poor families. It was hoped
\nthat the survey would be completed next Monday in order not to
\nslow the distribution of the assistance.<\/p>\n
\"We don't yet know how many people are left after the tsunami,
\nlet alone the number of people entitled to the aid,\" Panusunan
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The latest survey in 2002 revealed that the island was
\ninhabited by some 670,000 people. The Dec. 26 tsunami and another
\nmajor earthquake in March left hundreds of people dead and
\nmissing in the two regencies.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile. poor families in the South Sulawesi capital of
\nMakassar are facing the possibility of delays in receiving their
\npayments as the provincial office of the BPS had yet to receive
\nrecipient entitlement cards as of Tuesday. It also had to verify
\nthe latest data received from Jakarta on the number of poor
\npeople in the province.<\/p>\n
Makassar is among the first 14 towns where the government is
\nscheduled to distribute the cash on Oct. 1.<\/p>\n
Local BPS official Diah Utami said the process of
\nverifying the data on entitled aid recipients provided by the
\nJakarta office could take two or three days to complete.<\/p>\n
\"We will have to receive the cards on Wednesday at the latest
\nto ensure that the aid payments go ahead as planned. Poor
\nfamilies in Makassar may not get the assistance on time,\" Diah
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
According to the BPS, there are 452,468 poor families across
\nSouth Sulawesi, 63,811 of them living in Makassar.<\/p>\n
PT Pos and BRI have been appointed to distribute the
\nassistance funds.<\/p>\n
PT Pos spokesman Arief Setyanto said that to avoid forgery,
\neach PT Pos or BRI office would scan recipient entitlement cards
\nusing ultra violet rays to ensure their validity. Each card also
\nhad a bar code which would need computer verification.<\/p>\n
\"There are altogether seven items on each card to prevent
\nforgery,\" Arief said, but refused to go into the details.<\/p>\n
Cashiers are also required to verify the cards manually.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/cards-for-poor-families-distributed-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }