Poor residents differ over fuel cash aid

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Holding her family card in both hands, Niah, 57, a resident of Petojo Selatan subdistrict, Gambir in Central Jakarta, was figuring out how to spend the Rp 300,000 (US$29) she was about to receive as "compensation" for the upcoming fuel price increase.

"I will buy food and other basic commodities for the fasting month of Ramadhan," Niah said on the sidelines of a ceremony that marked the beginning of the distribution of Fuel Compensation Cards (KKB) to poor residents in the capital.

During the ceremony Governor Sutiyoso handed out the cards to dozens of poor residents from the Petojo Selatan subdistrict.

With a daily income of no more than Rp 20,000 from selling cakes at Petojo traditional market, Niah appeared very happy with the money.

Unlike Niah, Muhamadsyah, 43, a father of four, was not so happy with the cash, which he said was a paltry sum.

"Rp 100,000 per month? What can we by with such a meager amount? Not much," said Muhamadsyah, who makes a living by offering his services to neighbors to transport goods using his pushcart.

He said he spent Rp 20,000 a day on food alone, not to mention other expenses including electricity charges of Rp 30,000 per month.

The funds are part of a government program to ease the burden on people in the low-income bracket as the prices of basic commodities go up as a result of the imminent fuel price increase.

Fuel prices could be raised by as much as 80 percent on Oct. 1.

The government said earlier that each low-income family would get financial assistance of Rp 100,000 per month, regardless of the size of the family. Three hundred thousand will be handed out every three months.

The cash distributed on Monday was for the months of October, November and December.

There are at least 101,219 low-income households or 444,527 people in the capital who will benefit from the assistance program.

Sutiyoso said the central government and the Jakarta administration provided other forms of assistance, aside from financial, for low earners.

"Please, bear in mind that we have allocated 20 percent of the city budget for education, mostly for children from low-income families in state schools. We are also looking into the possibility of raising the budget for health services for the poor to Rp 200 billion next year from this year's Rp 100 billion," he said.

The 2005 Jakarta budget stands at Rp 14.01 trillion. The administration has proposed an increase of nearly 22 percent to Rp 16.98 trillion next year.

"I have just discussed with Minister of Home Affairs (Muh. Ma'aruf) the fate of non-Jakartan residents. And, he said that those unregistered (low-income) residents would also enjoy the assistance funds," he added.

Head of the Central Jakarta Statistics Agency Nyoto Widodo said that households receiving the fund were those grouped in the "very poor" and "poor" categories.

The "very poor" category is for households where each member's caloric intake is less than 1,900 a day, equal to Rp 120,000 per month, while in the "poor" group, the caloric intake of an individual is between 1,900 and 2,100 per day, equal to Rp 150,000 per month.

"We give priority to residents grouped in those categories, although residents who come close to being classified as poor may also be eligible, depending on the government's ability to include them in the program," he said.

The "nearly poor" group is households where the caloric intake of members is between 2,100 and 2,300 per day, equal to Rp 175,000 per month.