WB urged to postpone aid package<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): About 100 people protested in the lobby of the
\n31-story Jakarta Stock Exchange (BEJ) tower on Monday, demanding
\nWorld Bank (WB), whose offices are in the building, postpone the
\ndisbursement of its Rp 109.52 billion emergency fund intended for
\nJakarta's poor.<\/p>\n
The protest, organized by the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), a
\nnon-governmental organization, was peaceful and did not interrupt
\nbusiness at the BEJ Tower 2 building in the Sudirman central
\nbusiness district in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Watched by dozens of police officers, the protesters,
\nincluding pedicab drivers, children, and well dressed young and
\nelderly women, sat calmly and sang protest songs in the lobby
\nwhile awaiting the arrival of UPC leaders.<\/p>\n
A big banner displayed the name of the organizers, and a
\ncardboard box apparently contained about 10,000 signatures of
\npoor people from Greater Jakarta, East Java, Yogyakarta and Medan
\nwho were opposed to the current handling of the aid program.<\/p>\n
The protesters sang several modified versions of popular
\nsongs, such as JPS, siapa yang punya? (Who owns JPS?), to express
\ntheir criticisms of the aid scheme, locally known by the acronym
\nJPS.<\/p>\n
The protesters, some of whom arrived in taxis as early as 9:30
\na.m., claimed to be poor people from 25 subdistricts in the
\ncapital.<\/p>\n
They argued that the funds had not reached the people they
\nwere intended for, but instead had been abused by corrupt
\nexecutives of the Village Resilience Boards (LKMDs), which have
\nbeen appointed by the government to manage the funds.<\/p>\n
Protester Sunaryo, who said he was a poor resident of Gandaria
\nsubdistrict, said he rejected the JPS money because he was asked
\nto show his Jakarta resident identification card.<\/p>\n
\"I'm originally from Tumenggung and have been here since 1982.
\nI tried to register for an ID but my neighborhood chief told me
\nit would cost me Rp 100,000,\" Sunaryo said.<\/p>\n
Officially, the fee for an ID card is just Rp 1,000 for each
\nperson.<\/p>\n
Wasini, from Kalideres, who said she expected to be fired soon
\nfrom her job at electronics company PT Tatung Budi Indonesia, in
\nTangerang, agreed.<\/p>\n
\"I don't want the JPS money because the LKMD should have let
\nme know of it long ago. I wouldn't have had to work like crazy at
\nsuch a poor job if I knew of that money before,\" the 23-year-old
\ngirl said.<\/p>\n
A similar reason was given by Rus Sulisyano, an employee of a
\nconcrete factory in Bogor.<\/p>\n
The protesters, some of them neatly dressed and apparently
\nable to read English well, urged WB, which has an office on the
\n12th floor of the tower, to either cancel the aid scheme or
\npostpone the distribution of the money until after the June
\nelections.<\/p>\n
At 11:05 a.m., UPC chairwoman Wardah Hafidz arrived wearing a
\nblack top and a colorful body-fitting skirt slit to the knee.<\/p>\n
The protesters, who she said had received Rp 5,000 food
\nallowance and \"extra money\" for their transportation each from
\nher, greeted her with applause.<\/p>\n
Wardah and the protesters then held a dialog in the lobby with
\nWB executives, including the bank's outgoing country director
\nDennis de Tray, his successor Mark Baird, and bank senior
\neconomist Ben Fisher.<\/p>\n
According to De Tray, the WB was \"not involved\" in the
\ncountry's politics.<\/p>\n
\"We only want JPS to work. If it does not, the Bank will look
\ninto the matter personally,\" De Tray said.<\/p>\n
Baird added he would personally visit subdistricts here to
\ndiscuss the aid problems directly with the people.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Lant Pritchett, WB task manager for social safety
\nnet adjustment operations here, said he had not yet had a
\n\"detailed look\" into the disbursement of the aid allotted to
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
\"The government gives the WB regular feedback, but I'm still
\nnot sure whether ... 70 percent (of the funds have been)
\nwithdrawn from the (state bank) BRI account by LKMD executives,
\nor 70 percent has already reached the hands of the people,\" Lant
\nsaid. (ylt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/wb-urged-to-postpone-aid-package-1447893297",
"image": ""
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