Govt opens call center for fuel price queries
Govt opens call center for fuel price queries
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Starting on Saturday, the public can file any complaints they
have about the government's disbursement of low-income assistance
funds to a 24-hour toll-free call center.
Located at the National Information Agency (LIN) media center
in Central Jakarta, about 30 staff from a series of ministries
will also answer the public's questions about fuel price hikes
and low-income assistance funds.
"The call center will serve as an early detection system for
possible irregularities and any abuses of the low-income
assistance funds," State Minister for National Development
Planning Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Friday.
Mulyani said the government estimated that 80 percent of the
planned programs would target education and health services and
develop infrastructure for the poor.
The government has told the House of Representatives it
planned to increase fuel prices by an average of 29 percent in
early March.
In past months, the government has been designing a social
package for lower-income groups to minimize the social and
economic disturbance caused by any increases.
It plans to provide scholarships for more than nine million
students from elementary and junior high schools, pay for free
health services for around 36 million people as well as dedicate
infrastructure funds amounting Rp 300 million (US$32,397) for
11,000 isolated villages in the country.
Additional funds to boost small and medium enterprises as well
as to finance labor-intensive projects are also included in the
program.
Mulyani said to ensure transparency, the government would also
allocate extra funds to the Development Financial Comptroller
(BPKP) to ensure that the body was able to effectively monitor
the distribution of the funds.
State Minister of Communications and Information Sofyan A.
Djalil said the government would evaluate the effectiveness of
the call center during the first two months of its operations to
see if it was necessary to turn it into a permanent institution.
In the long run, he said, the center could serve as a
corruption watchdog where the public could report any alleged
irregularities.
The public can dial the call center's toll free number 0-800-1-
567877, or send mail to PO BOX JKP-5678, send free SMS (short
messaging services) at 5678 or send e-mails to
kom_bbm@depkominfo.go.id.