How leakages occur in distribution of rice for poor
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Possible 'leakages' in the distribution of fuel subsidy compensation funds for the poor can occur in any of the appointed administering institutions, even an agency that is meant to adopt one of the most efficient distribution methods.
The State Logistics Agency (Bulog), responsible for distributing rice for the poor, known as raskin by its Indonesian acronym, is presumed to be one of the most efficient institutions in administering the program, for the agency can distribute rice directly to recipients, as it is not attached to any department or local administration.
Nevertheless, loopholes still exist in the mechanism, which are open to abuse.
First of all, a leakage can occur in the purchase of the rice.
Bulog said that it purchased rice from farmers at a price of Rp 2,800 (30 U.S. cents) per kilogram (kg) last year, and the agency currently held some 1.5 million tons of this rice for the raskin program. Bulog would then sell the rice at Rp 1,000 per kilogram to the poor.
The difference between the purchase and sale price would be covered by the compensation fund. On top of that, Bulog would still charge storage and handling fees, also covered by the fund.
This year, Bulog will receive Rp 500 billion (US$55.5 million) in compensation funds, the same as last year.
On top of that, said Bulog spokesman Suhardo, the agency was still entitled to Rp 4.8 trillion of the social safety net fund, also to provide cheap rice for the poor.
With that amount in funds, Bulog plans to distribute a total 2.35 million tons of rice to about 9.2 million poor families, compared with 9.7 million people last year.
The next problem in the distribution process is the selection of recipients.
Suhardo said Bulog had collected data on poor families from the National Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN).
Based on the data, village heads would distribute coupons to poor families and they would be entitled to purchase 20 kg of rice per month.
Suhardo said the distribution of cheap rice this year would be the same as for last year -- namely the agency would send the rice from its depots to village heads or depots, either of which would then be responsible for distributing the rice to the poor.
Fears are growing that the cheap rice will go to people not entitled to receive it or to people close to village heads.
Nevertheless, monitoring teams are supposed to be established, comprising village community leaders, to ensure that the rice reaches the targeted people, the poor -- be they relatives of village heads or not.
In some cases, however, the price of the cheap rice could be higher than the government-set Rp 1,000 per kg, as some villages charged a handling fee to recipients of up to Rp 200 per kg.
Suhardo justified this price increase, as the costs of transportation from village depots to recipients would be met from respective local administration budgets.
Last, but not least, is accountability of the distribution. Bulog would be responsible for the rice sent to village depots, but from there onward, accountability reports would not normally be made.