Charity vital to beat the crisis

In this time of crisis, more and more people are crying out for help. What is the country doing to cope with the problems? The Jakarta Post's team of Ahmad Junaidi, Arief Suhardiman, Edith Hartanto, Dwi Atmanta, Kornelius Purba, Kosasih Deradjat, Sylvia Gratia M. Nirang and Brigid O'Halloran look into the issue of charity.

JAKARTA (JP): The Central Jakarta slum was suddenly enveloped in smiles and hope as the good news spread among its inhabitants.

"Come on, hurry up, they're handing out free sembako," said Masnah to her neighbors about the free distribution in the area of basic necessities by a non-governmental organization (NGO).

Such an activity is not unusual here as more and more people need help because they are badly affected by the country's worst economic crisis in decades.

The Central Bureau of Statistics said recently that the number of Indonesians living below the poverty line has increased sharply from 22.5 million, or 11 percent of the population, in 1996, to 79.4 million, about 40 percent of Indonesia's population of 202 million.

The bureau also warned that the figure would increase to 95.8 million, about 48 percent of the population, by the end of this year if no economic recovery was in sight.

The International Labor Organization has predicted that every day this year about 15,000 workers would lose their jobs, bringing the total number of jobless people by year's end to 5.4 million.

Those who still have money to spare, and are concerned with this condition are trying to lend a hand in their own way. Some give their assistance through NGOs or take part in a fund-raising program organized by Kompas and Republika dailies, held in cooperation with the Indonesian Ulemas Council.

Many people prefer to donate through NGOs or charity organizations because they are afraid that their contributions will not reach the target if donations are sent through the government's institutions.

Earlier this year, former minister of social services Siti Hardijanti Rukmana called upon people to donate their gold and money -- rupiah and U.S. dollars -- to help the poor. The former minister, eldest daughter of former president Soeharto, also organized a program involving sidewalk food stalls for the distribution of free and low-priced meals to laid-off workers.

The project, however, ended with complaints from many food-stall owners that they never received funds from the ministry to cover the cost of the meals.

Minister of Social Services Justika S. Baharsjah has refused to comment on the use of the funds collected by her predecessor, saying her ministry did not have the details on the funds collected or how they were spent.

She only said that her ministry has spent about Rp 8 billion of a total of more than Rp 10 billion of funds to cope with the impact of the crisis.

Apart from that, the government has also introduced a social safety net program, as required in its agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which is designed to help the country's poor survive the current economic crisis.

The program, funded mostly by foreign loans, is focused, among other things, on establishing food security and employment opportunities.

The government has allocated 7.5 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in the current fiscal year, which ends in March next year, for the program.

At least Rp 17.25 trillion has been allotted for the program.

But worries over leaks and corruption, and the lack of accurate data on people hardest hit by the crisis, have slowed down the government's social safety net spending for the poor.

The World Bank has repeatedly warned the government that international financial support for the social safety net program would be stopped unless it could ensure that the aid directed for the needy could be distributed without being abused by corrupt government officials.

Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare/Poverty Eradication Haryono Suyono said the government has involved university students and NGOs in monitoring the social safety net program to ensure that the aid reaches the targeted group.

NGOs and charity organizations, including those established by expatriates here, have their own way of helping the needy. Some of them distribute free assistance. But some others, such as the Bina Swadaya development agency and the Community Recovery Program focus on giving basic social services and create job opportunities and income generation.

Bina Swadaya's director, Bambang Ismawan, said that providing free basic necessities encouraged people to be dependent and weakened their motivation to help themselves.

"We choose to give them the bait not the fish," he said.

Economist Emil Salim, who chairs the Community Recovery Program shared this idea.

"We are not giving charity, people have to earn money to pay back the funds so they learn more about self-empowerment," he said.

Emil said charities experienced problems in supervision and evaluation at the operational level. The distribution of relief for free, or at cost, is prone to manipulation and corruption, he said.

But people still question the accountability of NGOs, although there are many which truly work to help the poor.

A country marketing manager of the air express company PT Birotika Semesta/DHL, Soraya Rudianti, said: "I always want to donate my money to the street children (through an NGO) but I wonder if my donations will reach the targeted people."

Foreigners cast even more doubts.

An American working as director for a multinational insurance company, Martins, said, "To be honest, I always donate my money through foreign NGOs and foreign charity organizations. I don't believe in Indonesia's NGOs and its government."

But foreign aid institutions, NGOs and charity organizations have complained about the government's complicated bureaucracy, which hampers them from direct distribution of the funds.

The International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) complained about complicated bureaucracy which has resulted in high administrative costs and leaks in the flow of its funds.

IFAD's country portfolio manager for Indonesia, Mattia Prayer Galletti, told The Jakarta Post recently: "The flow of funds is not smooth and sometimes cannot be tracked. It's hard to control the flow and the possibility of corruption and manipulation in aid distribution.

"The Indonesian government should be more transparent in distributing the aid it receives from foreign institutions. Otherwise, the country will be avoided by donors."