JPS program should be redesigned: NGOs
JAKARTA (JP): Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) called on the government on Tuesday to redesign the social safety net program (JP).
The NGOs said poor planning and coordination caused the social safety net program -- known by the local acronym JPS -- to not only be inefficient but to fail to reach its intended targets.
They concluded that the underlying cause of the program's ineffectiveness was a lack of detailed regulations for the distribution of money, selection of recipients and assessment of the program's effectiveness.
The conclusions were derived from recent field observations on the implementation of JPS programs in Greater Jakarta, Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java conducted by at least seven local NGOs.
One of the NGOs, Yayasan Bina Swadaya, which observed the JPS program in some areas of Yogyakarta, suggested that the government provide a more transparent procedure for the selection of fund recipients, to avoid the potential for conflict within communities.
"Seeds of conflict between community members emerged when some people who did not receive the funds envied others who got the money, claiming they should have been given the money because they are poorer than others," said an activist of Bina Swadaya, Sri Wahyuni.
Umi Pujihastuti of PINBUK said her organization found that a great deal of the money allocated for areas in Bandung, Tasiklamaya and Garut in West Java was not given to the people most in need of assistance.
"That's because local authorities responsible for the distribution of funds do not have complete, precise and up-to- date data on poor families in the area eligible to receive the funds," she said.
She said local authorities had relied on data of poor families issued by state institutions, including the National Coordinating Board for Family Planning Program, which was outdated did not have information beyond the regency level.
Hariadi Darmawan of Yayasan Bina Swadaya said the government should consider involving community groups in the social safety net program.
"Because it is the local community itself that knows which families among them need the money the most and what type of JPS funds are needed in the area," he said.
In order to help poor people survive the prolonged economic crisis, the government has since last year implemented various JPS schemes, including Empowering Regions to Overcome the Impact of the Economic Crisis, labor intensive programs, subsidized rice, scholarships to keep children in school and health care programs.
However, a lack of transparency and regulations for fund usage and distribution made it easier for irresponsible officials to use the money to benefit themselves and local authorities' programs, said Hamka Candranaya of the Center for Society's Participation foundation.
The Food for Poor People and Yayasan Amanah Ummat, both of which observed the implementation of JPS programs in the greater Jakarta area, suggested that the government apply a direct monitoring system on the distribution of the funds to reduce the risk of administrators manipulating the money.
They added that officials responsible for the management and distribution of the funds, both at ministry and community level, should be required to provide a complete report on the selection of recipients and money distribution and usage. (cst)