Foundation to manage poor fund
Foundation to manage poor fund
JAKARTA (JP): The government set up a foundation yesterday to manage donations from companies and rich people to finance poverty alleviation programs.
President Soeharto, in his personal capacity, together with businessmen Sudono Salim and Sudwikatmono and State Minister of Population Haryono Suyono, signed the notary deed for the establishment of the foundation, called Yayasan Dana Sejahtera Mandiri (self-reliant prosperity fund).
"It is a private foundation to help the government's poverty alleviation program under the coordination of the office of the state minister of population to implement," Minister Haryono quoted the President as saying after the signing of the deed.
The foundation is chaired by Soeharto (in his personal capacity) with his son Bambang Trihatmodjo acting as treasurer, Subiakto Tjakrawerdaja (the minister of cooperatives and small companies) as secretary and Fuad Bawazier (the tax director general) as deputy secretary.
The foundation has a paid-up capital of Rp 250 million (US$109,650), which was put up by the four founding figures.
Haryono said that the foundation will get its funds from donations to be raised on the basis of Presidential Decree No. 90/1995.
The decree, issued last month, calls on individuals and companies with after-tax incomes or profits of more than Rp 100 million (US$43,470) a year to donate up to 2 percent of their earnings to the poverty alleviation program.
Management
"These funds will be managed in a transparent manner and their use will be reported to the public. House members are welcome to inquire about the use of the funds," Haryono quoted Soeharto as saying.
"We hope businessmen will also give personal donations to the foundation," he said, adding that all the funds will be channeled through the state-owned Bank BNI 46.
The donations, he said, would not be an additional burden to businessmen because the top rate of income tax has been reduced from 35 percent to 30 percent.
"They should not be scared by this fund-collection program but should instead fell morally bound to help the needy," he said.
According to official data in 1994, there were 6,572 corporate taxpayers and 4,553 individual taxpayers with after-tax earnings of more than Rp 100 million a year.
"Their total after-tax earnings were estimated at Rp 12.5 trillion. Even a mere 2 percent of the total would have reached Rp 250 billion," he added.
The donations, he said, could be raised from both Indonesian and foreign companies and businessmen.
"It seems a lot, but it actually cannot yet cover the poor's needs. If each poor family gets a loan of Rp 100,000 ($43.86), then they will need some Rp 1.15 trillion," Haryono quoted President Soeharto as saying.
According to the government, the number of people living below the poverty line has fallen sharply from 63 percent of the total population in 1970 to only 13.7 percent (around 25 million) in 1993.
According to Haryono, a fund of Rp 1.15 trillion is needed for the poverty-alleviation program, under which each poor family will be granted a loan of Rp 100,000 with an annual interest rate of 6 percent.
The government, he said, is now recording onto computer 15 million poor families which will receive the low-interest loans.
"For the first stage, some five million families will benefit from the program," he said.
He pointed out that the presidential decree also asks foreign companies to participate in the program.
Tax Director General Fuad Bawazier told newsmen his office would be managing the collection of the donations.
But he declined to give further comments, saying that the finance minister has yet to issue rulings on the technical details for the implementation of the Presidential decree.
Informed sources said the fund raising program will start in March, the deadline for the filing of the 1995 income tax returns. (13/hen)