Housewives terrorized for reporting reduced aid<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Several housewives from Cipinang Besar Selatan subdistrict in
\nEast Jakarta said they have been intimidated by two subdistrict
\nofficials after they reported a reduction of rice aid for the
\npoor from the Jakarta City Council.<\/p>\n
Sumiyati, one of the women, said that Cipinang Besar Selatan
\nsubdistrict deputy head Kadarusman, accompanied by a public order
\nofficer, visited her house on Friday morning and told her that
\npolice officers would soon meet her.<\/p>\n
\"He (Kadarusman) did not explain why the police officers would
\ncome, but the tone of his words indicated that I had made a
\nmistake,\" Sumiyati told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Fearing that there would be police officers coming to arrest
\nher, Sumiyati telephoned activists from the Jakarta Resident's
\nForum (Fakta). Some of them immediately came, but no police
\nofficer arrived till later that evening.<\/p>\n
Sumiyati, who was previously reluctant to mention her real
\nname, visited the council on Friday together with Fakta
\nactivists.<\/p>\n
She told the councillors that the subdistrict officials had
\ncut the allotment from 20 kilograms per family per month to only
\n8 kilograms. And the rice was sold at Rp 1,300 per kilogram,
\ninstead of Rp 1,000, the price set by the government.<\/p>\n
Cipinang Besar Selatan subdistrict head Ari Sonjaya confirmed
\nSumiyati's report that each poor family in the neighborhood unit
\n(RT) 15 of community unit (RW) 2 in his subdistrict only received
\n8 kilograms per month.<\/p>\n
But he claimed that he knew nothing about the threat by his
\ndeputy against the protesting women.<\/p>\n
Ari even said that he did not blame the women. \"What is
\nregretful is the fact that they reported it to the city council.
\nWhy did they do it? The councillors will not give additional rice
\nalthough they report the case to them,\" Ari told the Post.<\/p>\n
According to Ari, such a practice could happen as the number
\nof poor families in the community unit II is more than the data
\nowned by subdistrict. In the data, there are 26 poor families
\nthere, but the real number of poor families was 162, he said.<\/p>\n
Based on the subdistrict's data, community unit 2 received the
\nsmallest allotment compared with the other nine community units
\nin the subdistrict.<\/p>\n
According to the data, the largest number of poor families who
\ndeserved the cheap rice was in community unit 6 where 306 poor
\nfamilies lived.<\/p>\n
About the price of the rice, Sofianus Harjo, a staff member
\nresponsible for distributing the rice in the subdistrict, said
\nthe additional price was for transportation from the subdistrict
\nhead's office to the people's houses.<\/p>\n
The rice for the poor program managed by the National
\nLogistics Agency (Bulog) was launched in January 2002. That year,
\nthe agency distributed a total of 2.35 million tons of low-priced
\nrice to 9.79 million poor families.<\/p>\n
The rice should be sold at the price of Rp 1,000 compared to
\nthe market price which was Rp 3,000. Under the program, each
\nfamily would receive a total of 20 kilograms per month throughout
\nthe year.<\/p>\n
This year, Bulog plans to distribute a total of 2.35 million
\ntons of rice to about 9.2 million poor families.<\/p>",
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