Direct cash distribution a mistake, experts say

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta, The Jakarta Post

Daliyem Kirno Notorejo of Yogyakarta, a 75-year-old widow, jumped into a river to her death last Saturday because of disappointment at her exclusion from the list of people entitled to government direct cash aid to compensate for the fuel price hike.

A day earlier, Saman, 52, a neighborhood unit head in Jambi, was stabbed to death by an aid recipient, Hendri, who claimed that Saman had tried to extort him in return for a document required to obtain the aid.

Daliyem and Saman have added to the tragedy that has marked the government's welfare program, which has also seen three elderly people die while queuing for the cash. The government has ruled that recipients must collect the money in person.

Malcontents have also attacked and vandalized local government offices for failing to register them as aid recipients. Neighborhood unit heads have opted to resign their positions, saying people were venting their frustration at them.

"Many people have intimidated me and my family for not registering them as aid recipients. I already told them it is not my responsibility, but they are still mad at me. So, rather than putting my family in danger, I prefer to quit," said Karnoji, who had served as a neighborhood unit head in the Central Java town of Brebes for 29 years.

Sociologist Imam B. Prasodjo said the cash aid was a big mistake because it damaged people's mental outlook.

"The program has brought moral hazard to our citizens," Imam told The Jakarta Post.

He said the program had encouraged people to identify themselves as poor.

A series of acts of violence and even fatalities reflects the government's unpreparedness for the program, Imam said.

"Poorly managed activities involving the masses are vulnerable to chaos, and chaotic situations are likely to have victims," he said.

Economic and political observer Fachry Ali said the program was not the way a welfare state took care of its citizens.

"A welfare state, John Maynard Keynes suggests, should create jobs through fiscal stimulus. The trillions of rupiah allocated for the program should have been used to create labor-intensive projects," Fachry said.

He urged the government to apologize and to bring the program to a halt.

"The government has to stop the program and apologize to the people because it has undermined people's dignity by acknowledging their poor status rather than their potential," he said. "Moreover, the program will make people heavily dependent."

Creation of jobs in the real sector will allow people to earn the same amount of cash aid they receive, according to Fachry. "Job creation will not only help poor people but also boost the country's economic growth and help eliminate the class conflicts that are happening now," he said.

Fachry reminded President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of his thesis, which implied that he had faith in Keynes' words.

"It's all in his dissertation," Fachry said. "He himself insisted that to develop the country's agricultural industry and rural areas, the government should intervene through fiscal stimulus. Distributing money was not what he meant."

Susilo earned a doctorate from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture in October 2004 for his dissertation entitled "Agricultural industry and rural development as an effort to overcome poverty and unemployment: Economic and political analysis of fiscal policy".