Poor families get rotten rice aid

Poor families get rotten rice aid

KUNINGAN, West Java: More than 15,000 underprivileged families
in Kuningan regency, West Java, have complained to local
authorities since they had received very low-quality rice aid for
the last two months.

They said that the rice aid distributed often smelled bad and
were worm-eaten.

Besides the very poor quality, the families had also received
a smaller amount of rice: Instead of the 20 kilograms of rice
aid, they had received only 18 kilograms.

"The rice I received in June and July were of bad quality,
aside from the fact that there were two kilograms less," Muh
Nurdin, a resident of Babakanjati village, Cilimus subdistrict,
said.

Similar complaints were expressed by villagers in Sukarasa,
Darma subdistrict.

In response, spokesman for the Kuningan administration Kamil
Ganda Permadi confirmed the low quality of the rice aid
distributed by the local state logistics agency, Dolok, for the
poor.

He said his office had asked Dolok to heed the poor people's
grievances, and provide good rice and ensure that the ration was
of the correct weight. -- JP