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