Council to approve more funds for the poor

Council to approve more funds for the poor

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration's poverty alleviation scheme -- in which
it will issue a special card that enables the holders to have
access to free or subsidized education and medical treatment --
will need to double its funding to adequately support the
program, according to one councillor.

"The City Council supports the scheme and we will approve the
disbursement of between Rp 150 billion (US$16.48 million) and Rp
200 billion," deputy speaker of the council Ahmad Heryawan stated
during a discussion on health services for the poor organized by
the Indonesian Red Crescent on Tuesday.

"However, the administration must update and improve its
database on poor families in the capital. The database is
necessary to ensure the scheme's accountability," he added.

The administration allocated some Rp 75 billion to provide
health services for the poor through the Gakin card scheme.

The special card will be similar to a health insurance card,
but its premium will be covered by the city budget. It can also
be used to cover the expenses for elementary and junior high
education.

The card will be issued in four different colors to
distinguish the amount to be subsidized -- 25 percent, 50
percent, 75 percent and 100 percent -- depending on a family's
financial condition.

"We are currently working on it. Hopefully, the scheme can be
fully implemented in 2007," said the City Health Agency head
Abdul Chalik Masulili during the discussion.

He added that the new scheme would require a revision to
determine families' level of poverty based on the city's current
conditions. "We will collaborate with the University of
Indonesia's School of Public Health for that purpose."

Around 1.5 million Jakartans are classified as disadvantaged
based on their lack of access to education and health services.

The health agency initially used data from the Central
Statistics Agency as its reference, with some 117,731 families
eligible for subsidized medical services as of April 2004.

However, it was discovered later that only 30 percent of the
families that received the Gakin card were actually eligible,
while many of the truly needy were not even on the list.

Masulili said his office would also team up with the
Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) and the Indonesia Health
Consumers Empowerment Foundation (YPKKI) to ensure the scheme's
accountability. "If the scheme is implemented properly, we hope
private firms will also pitch in and support it by donating
funds."