'Number of families needing free rice up to 400,000'

'Number of families needing free rice up to 400,000'

Yuli Tri Suwarni and Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post,
Bandung/Semarang

The number of poor families slated to receive free rice in those
regencies worst affected by the devastating drought across the
country has increased to almost 400,000, Minister of Social
Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah said on Wednesday.

Based on earlier reports from regents in Java, only around
250,000 families would have been entitled to the free rice, he
said.

"It appears that many regents have increased the numbers, so
that there are now obviously discrepancies between the latest
figures and the data we received previously," he told journalists
in Bandung, West Java.

Bachtiar said that the increase caused the unequal
distribution of the free rice in the drought-plagued regencies.

The central government has allocated around 20,000 tons of
free rice for 250,000 families in the 18 regencies in Java that
have been worst hit by the prolonged dry season.

Under the plan, each family was expected to receive 40
kilograms per month in August and September, but most of them
received less than this due to the increase in the number of
those entitled to receive the food aid.

Bachtiar said only 2,000 tons of rice had been distributed to
the recipients so far. He did not elaborate.

The minister said the central government had not yet decided
on whether to provide more rice so as to ensure that all of the
400,000 poor families would receive their fair share, as his
ministry had still to verify the latest figures.

"The verification process will have been finished by the end
of this month, and we will decide then whether to increase the
stock of free rice or not," he said.

In addition to the free rice program, the central government
has also launched job creation schemes for those who have been
prevented from working their land due to the drought.

Farmers and others employed on the schemes are paid Rp 15,000
each per day.

In Central Java, job creation schemes have been operating in
more than 30 regencies since the start of September.

Central Java administration spokesman Agus Utomo said on
Wednesday that the projects undertaken as part of these schemes
included the renovation of irrigation canals and the construction
of other types of physical infrastructure in the province.

More than Rp 12 billion had been allocated for job creation
schemes in the province, Utomo added.

He said the projects involved were being undertaken by the
local agriculture office, the water resources office and the
manpower office.

Utomo also said the provincial government had distributed
around 3,640 tons of rice to villagers in 30 drought-hit
regencies in Central Java and provided them with Rp 350 million
in cash assistance.