Bogor residents rush to receive aid

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor

It was still too early in the day for most office workers, but the queue in front of the Cibinong Post Office in Bogor, West Java on Monday had already begun since daybreak.

Monday was the first day of the fuel compensation fund disbursement for the poor in six districts of the Bogor Regency and people had come in as early as 5 a.m. to avoid waiting in a long queue.

"Immediately after I receive this money, I'm going to buy kerosene and rice," Nawiyah said as she waited patiently in the queue.

The 50-year-old said that the money she makes from bathing dead bodies was far from sufficient for her daily needs and that she was thankful for the Rp 100,000 (about US$10) cash.

"I only receive Rp 25,000 for bathing a dead body and even then I have to give half of that to my sister for helping me," Nawiyah, who came from Curug Kampong, Pakansari Village, Cibinong District, said.

However, Nawiyah does not bathe a dead body every day.

Another woman, Sampah, from the Cipayung Village in the same area, said that since the price of kerosene had gone up from Rp 700 to Rp 2,000 a liter, she was forced to use firewood as fuel and buy poor quality rice.

"In my village kerosene is sold at Rp 3,000 a liter," she said, while waiting for her turn.

Poor people are the ones hit hardest by the government's recent decision to increase fuel prices by an average of 126.6 percent, particularly since the price of kerosene -- used by the poor as cooking fuel -- nearly tripled in the process.

To offset the effects of increased fuel prices on low-income families, the government devised a scheme whereby households with a combined income of less than Rp 700,000 a month are to receive cash assistance of Rp 100,000 per month.

The Bogor Statistics Agency head Anaszri said that the disbursement of the funds in the area was organized through the Bogor Central Post Office, Cibinong Post Office and Sawangan Post Office, of which the largest amount -- about Rp 43.178 billion -- was disbursed through the Bogor Central Post Office.

The Bogor Central Post Office will then distribute the money to poor people in 22 districts in the Bogor Regency, with the first round on Monday going to people in the Cibinong, Babakan Madang, Jasinga, Tamansari, Citeureup and Cijeruk districts.

Deputy head of the Bogor Central Post Office Djajar Sudjianto said that there are 143,929 poor families registered to receive the compensation in the 22 districts.