Govt accused of stealing cheap rice for the poor
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
It is another story about the greed of government officials. Now, they are accused of stealing rice set aside to be distributed to the poor in a program launched early last year to help ease the burden of those most affected by the prolonged economic crisis.
Samarin, 25, a mother of two, came to City Council on Thursday to meet members of Commission A for administrative affairs to report that there had been a reduction in the distribution of subsidized rice for the poor in the Cipinang Besar Selatan subdistrict in East Jakarta.
She told the councillors that since November last year, her family has received the subsidized rice as her husband had lost his job and was only able to find work doing odd jobs for neighbors.
But she said the rice she received was far below the amount announced by the government that each family would receive per month, that is 20 kilograms of rice at the price of Rp 1,000 per kilogram.
"Starting four months ago, I have received only 10 liters (8 kgs) per month at the price of Rp 1,300. I do not know why, as the officials (who distribute the rice) refused to explain," said Samarin.
Her statement was confirmed by Rina, the wife of the head of the neighborhood unit where Samarin and her family lives.
Samarin blamed the subdistrict officials who are responsible for distributing the rice for the irregularities. But she refused to say that the subdistrict head was behind the case.
The rice for the poor program managed by the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) was launched in January 2002. The agency distributed a total of 2.35 million tons of low-priced rice to 9.79 million poor families last year.
The rice was sold at a price of Rp 1,000 per kilogram, compared to the market price of Rp 3,000. Each family received a total of 20 kilograms per month throughout the year.
This year, Bulog will receive Rp 500 billion (US$55.5 million) in compensation funds for the program, the same as last year. The agency is still entitled to Rp 4.8 trillion of the social safety net fund, also made available to provide cheap rice for the poor.
With the funds, Bulog plans to distribute a total 2.35 million tons of rice to about 9.2 million poor families this year.
Samarin added that there was no explanation from the subdistrict officials why the allotment of the rice for the poor was cut.
Chairman of the Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) Azas Tigor Nainggolan, who accompanied Samarin and dozens of other poor people who visited the Council, slammed such practices, saying that it was another illustration of the endemic corruption in the city.
He said that what happened in Cipinang Besar Selatan was only one example of many similar cases occurring in other areas in the city.
According to Tigor, such a practice might occur because of weak supervision of the program by the city administration officials.
"Cipinang Besar Selatan is not the first case in East Jakarta. When a similar case happened last year, the mayor promised to take control of the program. But why has it happened again?" Tigor said.