Officials' integrity in distributing aid doubted<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Only two days after the launching of a new aid
\npackage for poor villages, a senior official said he has doubts
\nthat the money will reach their intended recipients intact.<\/p>\n
The Rp 20 million (US$9500) packets are being distributed to
\nmore than 20,000 villages which qualify under the presidential
\naid program for backward villages, which was officially launched
\non April 1.<\/p>\n
\"They'll be lucky to receive Rp 18 million,\" State Minister of
\nAdministrative Reform T.B. Silalahi was quoted by the Antara news
\nagency as saying on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\"I have my doubts about the integrity of the officials
\nhandling the package, their lack of consciousness and their poor
\nattitude about being good public servants,\" Silalahi said.<\/p>\n
He was speaking in Jayapura, capital of Irian Jaya, where he
\npresented the fund for a number of projects to be handled by the
\nprovince in the 1994\/95 fiscal year.<\/p>\n
\"The money is bound to be reduced by a hefty amount before it
\nreaches the villagers,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the government has estimated that by the time the
\nmoney reaches the villages, the package may have been cut to Rp
\n18 million in order to pay for overhead costs.<\/p>\n
The aid scheme is part of the government's campaign to
\neradicate poverty in the Sixth Five-Year Plan (Repelita VI),
\nwhich also got underway on April 1.<\/p>\n
An official survey found that 25.9 million people, or nearly
\n14 percent of Indonesia's total population, still live below the
\npoverty line as determined by a minimum daily calorie intake of
\n2,100. In terms of monthly expenses, this comes to Rp 27,905 per
\nperson in urban areas and Rp 18,244 in rural areas.<\/p>\n
The National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), which
\noversees the new aid package, has insisted that the money should
\nremain intact when it reaches the recipients and that any
\noverhead costs incurred in channeling the funds should be taken
\nout of the local administration's coffers.<\/p>\n
Cooperatives<\/p>\n
The packages would be distributed to local organizations,
\nformal or informal, such as cooperatives or neighborhood groups.
\nThe money is intended as a seed capital for whatever activities
\nthese groups intend to organize, including loan schemes, but it
\nis hoped that the fund will grow over time.<\/p>\n
Silalahi said the aid package is intended to help develop the
\neconomy of the backward villages and improve the incomes of the
\ninhabitants.<\/p>\n
\"I appeal to all officials involved in distributing the
\npackage to put the people's interest first so that the money will
\narrive intact, or if it must be reduced, it should fall within
\nnormal levels,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Much depends therefore on the mentality of the officials, he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
President Soeharto, in a message to local governments at the
\nlaunching of the new Five Year Plan on Thursday, said the
\nintegrity of the government now depends more on their records
\nbecause they have been given greater autonomy in administering
\ntheir respective regions. (emb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/officials-integrity-in-distributing-aid-doubted-1447899208",
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