Minister aware of food program flaws

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Social Services Siti Hardijanti Rukmana defended yesterday her emergency program of distributing free meals to the needy, but conceded there were flaws which needed to be ironed out.

Hardiyanti, who is better known as Mbak Tutut, said the provision of 15,000 meals worth Rp 1,500 (16 U.S. cents) each to laid-off workers at cheap food stalls was still in its early stages.

"So I would like the journalists to do me a favor by reporting the program's weaknesses," she said after attending the new cabinet's first coordinative meeting on people's welfare and poverty eradication.

The three-hour meeting at her office in Central Jakarta was presided over by Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Haryono Suyono.

Hardiyanti promised that all reported weaknesses, including the possibility of irregularities in fund management and uneven food distribution, would be addressed immediately.

She also admitted there was still poor coordination in the program and blamed it on staff shortages.

"I call on non-governmental organizations and students to help the government with the program," she added.

Hardiyanti opened the campaign, called Managing Impacts of the Monetary Crisis, on Tuesday by offering 400 free meals to workers at Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta.

The program, to be expanded nationwide, aims at providing the poor with cheap but nutritious meals. It is paid for by the first-year salaries donated by the President and his cabinet ministers, and by business tycoons.

Minister Haryono said the program was an immediate action to lessen the blows of the severe economic crisis.

"The program is like the red beret forces who are deployed to beat the imminent threat," Haryono said, referring to the Army's special force (Kopassus).

Haryono said various governmental agencies would introduce emergency programs of their own.

One of these will be the utilization of idle land for agricultural purposes.

"There are some 8,000 hectares of land in Jakarta and some 15,000 hectares in Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi that will be provided to the people," Haryono said.

Earlier yesterday, Hardijanti made her first ministerial tour to visit flood-hit areas in Bandung, West Java.

Hardijanti donated Rp 75 million and staple foods to affected residents. (43/byg)