ICW Demands Government Transparency on May Day Grocery Budget Funds

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) is demanding transparency from the government regarding the management of the budget for grocery expenditure in 2025-2026. “ICW urges the State Secretariat Ministry to immediately open information related to the budget for purchasing groceries in 2025-2026 as a form of commitment to transparency and accountability in state financial management,” said the Head of the Legal and Investigation Division of ICW, Wana Alamsyah, on Monday (4/5). Wana alluded to the distribution of grocery packages at the International Labour Day celebration at Monas on 1 May. “The total groceries provided by Perum Bulog for distribution to participants amounted to around 350,000 packages. The budget for this is suspected to come from the State Secretariat Ministry,” Wana stated. Not only at May Day, Wana also highlighted distributions at previous events. First, the provision of groceries on 25 March 2025 in Bogor Regency. Second, during the President’s visit to Sumatra on 20 March 2026, and third, the bazaar activity programme at Monas on 28 March 2026. Wana conveyed that ICW has attempted to obtain information regarding the grocery expenditure budget or bazaar activities through government websites, from the State Secretariat, Cabinet Secretariat, to the government procurement of goods/services site, but with no results. Wana stated there are four issues regarding the secrecy of budget expenditure information for social assistance or similar activities. First, closed budgets can potentially open up opportunities for corruption. He explained that a bad precedent of unaccountable social assistance budget management occurred in the procurement of Covid-19 social assistance by the Ministry of Social Affairs. Second, secrecy of information potentially harms the principles of transparency and accountability in state financial management. He stated that the public has the right to know the planning, use, and accountability of funds used in grocery distribution or bazaar activities. Third, grocery distribution activities at certain moments, such as official visits or national day commemorations, have the potential to be misused for political interests or image-building. “This risks blurring the main purpose of social assistance, which should be given based on community needs, not ceremonial moments,” he said. Finally, Wana mentioned that the lack of clarity in the mechanism for determining beneficiaries opens up potential for inaccurate targeting. He opined that without transparent and verifiable data, grocery assistance could fail to reach groups in real need.