Cash aid fails to impress Makassar city residents

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar

Mansyur was expressionless when he was informed on Tuesday that his family was among the poor families who are entitled to a low- income assistance benefit in Makassar city.

The 42-year-old father of two showed not a hint of happiness but politely replied that he was appreciative.

"We are grateful that we will receive the money, but the amount is nothing compared to the escalating prices of basic necessities these days. In the end, nothing changes, the assistance funds will not help much," Mansyur said.

The resident of Flamboyan, Mattoanging, previously worked as a pedicab driver but illness meant he had to quit his job.

Now the family, who live in a makeshift 12 square-meter house, depend solely on the income earned by Mansyur's wife, who works doing their neighbors' laundry.

Under the scheme -- intended to ease the impact on low-income groups caused by the planned fuel price hike on Oct. 1 -- the government will provide each family with Rp 300,000 (US$30) in direct cash transfers every three months after the hike takes effect.

The government has estimated it will have to set aside Rp 4.65 trillion until the end for the year for the assistance funds to more than 15 million families nationwide.

Another Makassar city resident, Muna, said her family was already heavily burdened by recently rising food prices.

"Prices of basic necessities like rice, sugar and frying oil have drastically increased, then there's kerosene that is not only expensive, but also hard to find," the 47-year-old said.

"And I'm sure prices will continue to increase, especially before the fasting month of Ramadhan. It means we will have to spend a lot more, while the government is only providing Rp 100,000 in assistance every month."

She estimated that Rp 100,000 would only last her a week at most, "with the current prices".

If they had a choice, Mansyur and Muna said they would prefer to be given basic necessities, including kerosene, rather than money.

In Makassar city, the South Sulawesi Central Statistics Agency has determined that 63,811 poor households, about 27 percent of the city's recorded 238,786 families are entitled to receive the low-income assistance funds.

The city is the poorest out of the province's 23 regencies and municipalities, with low-income families mostly living in the city's outskirts and on coastal areas near the Makassar Strait as fishermen, pedicab drivers and construction workers.

In the entire province, 432,464 families are listed as poor out of a total of 1,595,310 households.