Disbursement of emergency fund delayed again without any reason<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The disbursement of an emergency fund amounting
\nto Rp 109.52 billion, aimed at empowering poor city residents
\nhard hit by a prolonged economic crisis, is being delayed again
\nwithout any clear reason.<\/p>\n
Several heads of the Village Resilience Board (LKMD) assigned
\nto be in charge of channeling the aid said that they had yet to
\nreceive the fund as of Friday, even though the deadline for the
\ndisbursement was set for Jan. 15 at the latest.<\/p>\n
LKMD's East Jakarta Pondok Bambu subdistrict head, Marsudi,
\nsaid: "The fund actually should have been disbursed in early
\nJanuary but the deadline was postponed until Jan. 15."<\/p>\n
The disbursement was postponed because of discrepancies in its
\nproposed usage. Instead of planning to use the fund to help the
\npoor, some board members proposed it be used to purchase various
\nitems, including vehicles, water treatment machines, horses,
\nuniforms and computers.<\/p>\n
"Up to the moment it has not been disbursed, whereas the first
\nstage of the program should be finished in mid-March.<\/p>\n
"The program is scheduled to continue with the second stage,
\nwhich was expected to be completed by the end of March," said
\nMarsudi, reported Antara.<\/p>\n
He said it was impossible that the program could be successful
\nif its time was so short.<\/p>\n
The city development planning board's head, Bambang Sungkono,
\nannounced recently that 256 LKMDs throughout the city would be
\ngiven part of the fund to help the needy by Jan. 15 at the
\nlatest.<\/p>\n
About Rp 106.77 billion of the aid will be channeled directly
\nto LKMDs through the state's Bank Rakyat Indonesia with the
\nremainder set aside for management and operational costs.<\/p>\n
Councillors and activists had warned against misuse of the
\naid, saying that it would be used as money politics because the
\nboard members usually consisted of people close to the government
\nor the ruling Golkar political grouping.<\/p>\n
The program, which is funded by the National Development
\nPlanning Board, is conducted under the auspices of the PDMDKE, a
\nprogram designed to help people cope with the worst impacts of
\nthe economic crisis.<\/p>\n
Marsudi said that since early January, the board had actually
\nbeen ready to start the program, which was expected to involve
\n1,850 people living below the poverty line and 1,300 people who
\nwere dismissed during the economic crisis.<\/p>\n
He said that his board alone would receive Rp 810 million, of
\nwhich 65 percent would be lent to small businesspeople and 35
\npercent to finance small development projects, such as repairing
\nroads and drains and constructing a small mosque.<\/p>\n
Representatives of LKMDs in Kedoya Utara subdistrict, West
\nJakarta; Kamal Muara, North Jakarta; and Mampang Prapatan, South
\nJakarta, also complained about the delay in the disbursement.<\/p>\n
Some city residents contacted last week said that they knew
\nnothing about the availability of the fund.<\/p>\n
A Blue Bird taxi driver, identified only as S.E., said that he
\nhad neither heard about the aid from the head of his neighborhood
\nnor from the subdistrict head himself -- the people in charge of
\ninforming their subdistricts about the aid.<\/p>\n
"How could I not know of this? I definitely would rather leave
\nthis 14-hour job and feed myself on the aid," said S.E., a
\nresident of the Rawabuaya subdistrict, of East Jakarta, where at
\nleast 15,819 families lived below the poverty line, the second
\nlargest number in the city after West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Mina, a housemaid in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, said that
\nshe would definitely "advise" her jobless husband to inquire
\nabout the aid. (ind\/ylt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/disbursement-of-emergency-fund-delayed-again-without-any-reason-1447893297",
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