The needy wait for safety net program assistance<\/p>\n
By Christiani S.A. Tumelap<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The eyes of Husin, a grandfather of six, shone
\nbright as he talked about his tire repair business, a business he
\nhas been in for the last 20 years.<\/p>\n
\"It may not be a big business, but it has never failed to help
\nme keep my status as the family's breadwinner,\" he said while
\nfixing a flat bicycle tire in his modest working space, a five-
\nmeter-square makeshift wooden room off Jl. U in Tegal Parang,
\nMampang Prapatan district, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The tire repair business earns him as little as Rp 2,000 a day
\nto over Rp 15,000 (about US$2) a day. These figures were doubled
\nand sometimes tripled before the economic crisis hit in mid-1997,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
\"Alhamdulillah (thank God) that I got Rp 200,000 from the
\nsocial safety net fund to buy some spare parts and also several
\nthings needed by my family,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Husin is one of hundreds of people in Tegal Parang subdistrict
\nwho enjoyed the benefit of the government's social safety net
\nprogram, which was launched last year to help the poor and
\nunemployed cope with the country's worst ever economic crisis.<\/p>\n
The Mampang district received a total of Rp 455.78 million in
\ncheap loans provided by the safety net program and channeled
\nthrough the village resilience board (LKMD), a community-based
\norganization created and managed by local leaders.<\/p>\n
Each eligible recipient in the district received between Rp
\n250,000 and Rp 1 million. They have to repay the interest free
\nloan within 10 months. The repaid money is then distributed to
\nother recipients in the district.<\/p>\n
Unlike Husin, however, many other poor residents in the
\ncapital have not benefited from the safety net program.<\/p>\n
In a 16-square-meter rented room in a slum area in the Menteng
\nDalam subdistrict, which is just behind President Habibie's
\nresidential compound in the opulent Patra Kuningan area of South
\nJakarta, 40-year-old Suparmi longs for a chance to receive a loan
\nfrom the social safety net fund.<\/p>\n
\"I would really be grateful if I could get some money to use
\nas capital to support my business of selling nasi rames (rice
\naccompanied by a mixture of dishes),\" she said.<\/p>\n
Suparmi earns between Rp 10,000 and Rp 30,000 a day to support
\nher husband and eight children.<\/p>\n
\"I wonder why other neighborhoods have enjoyed the safety net
\nprogram and we have not. We are actually living very close to the
\nPresident here,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Controversies<\/p>\n
The implementation of the social safety net program has been
\ncriticized by many for failing to reach its intended targets
\nbecause of a lack of comprehensive preparation, detailed
\ndistribution procedures and an adequate assessment system.<\/p>\n
Several local non-governmental organizations concluded in a
\nstudy that the program did not have transparent procedures, a
\nclear vision or clearly targeted recipients. According to the
\nNGOs, this led to the misuse of funds by LKMDs and government
\nofficials and the uneven distribution of funds.<\/p>\n
The government allocated Rp 17.9 trillion to finance the
\nsafety net program in the 1998\/1999 fiscal year which ended in
\nMarch, but a large portion of this money was misused.<\/p>\n
The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) admitted
\nrecently that some of the funds went to the wrong people. The
\nagency said assigning different ministries to handle the
\ndistribution of the funds was a mistake because some of the
\nministries used the funds to finance their own projects rather
\nthan channeling the money to the needy.<\/p>\n
Bappenas also said some of the safety net money was used by
\ncertain political parties to gain votes in the June general
\nelection. Government officials in some areas of East Java,
\nCentral Java, North Sumatra, North Jakarta and West Java told
\nrecipients that the funds were from Golkar Party.<\/p>\n
The agency also said that at least Rp 8 trillion of the Rp
\n17.9 trillion allocated for the safety net program failed to
\nreach its intended targets; the unemployed and people without
\nenough food.<\/p>\n
The World Bank delayed the March disbursement of a $600
\nmillion loan for the safety net program after the government
\nfailed to provide a reliable system to monitor the disbursement
\nof the funds.<\/p>\n
The bank later agreed to distribute the delayed $600 million
\nloan on May 18, just weeks before the general election.<\/p>\n
Analysts said the safety net program was prone to red tape and
\ncorruption due to a lack of coordination and monitoring.<\/p>\n
The secretary of the subdistrict office in Beji, Depok, West
\nJava, Sakriyanto, agreed with the critics, saying even he was
\nnot really involved in the distribution of the funds to residents
\nin his subdistrict.<\/p>\n
\"I think government officials, including us in subdistrict
\noffices, should ideally know about the details of the safety net
\nprogram so that we will be able to give proper information to the
\npublic,\" he said.<\/p>\n
An activist of a local NGO, Food for Poor People, Widya
\nRachman, said the uneven distribution and misuse of the safety
\nnet funds would not have happened had the government socialized
\nits program from the beginning.<\/p>\n
\"Lack of information on the purpose, targets and mechanisms of
\nthe safety net program has been exploited by some people to take
\nadvantage of the program, while people who really need the money
\ncan do nothing about it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He highlighted his organization's findings on the
\nimplementation of the program in some areas of Greater Jakarta,
\npointing out that the funds were distributed through different
\nmethods by different LKMDs.<\/p>\n
\"Some require the recipients to pay a certain amount of loan
\ninterest, others don't. Not to mention that some recipients got
\nthe funds easier because they knew LKMD officials personally,\"
\nWidya said.<\/p>\n
He also questioned the way some of the funds received by a
\ndistrict were taken by the LKMD or other relevant government
\nagencies.<\/p>\n
A chairman of a LKMD in the Tegal Parang district said his
\ndistrict received Rp 455,780,000 to be used to finance the
\ndevelopment of infrastructure and small and medium-scale
\nentrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
He said his LKMD was allowed by government regulations to use
\n5 percent of the funds to pay for overhead.<\/p>\n
In addition, the LKMD also gave the head of the community unit
\nan operational fee of Rp 2.5 million and the facilitator Rp 1.25
\nmillion, he said.<\/p>\n
\"As far as I am concerned, these fees are legal. But I don't
\nknow how other LKMDs do their jobs, really,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said those who wanted to receive funds from the safety net
\nprogram registered with their respective neighborhood leaders,
\nwho advised the LKMD on which were the appropriate recipients.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-needy-wait-for-safety-net-program-assistance-1447893297",
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