Preconditions attached to emergency loans
Preconditions attached to emergency loans
JAKARTA (JP): Poor city residents hoping to get a portion of
the Rp 109.52 billion emergency aid fund must first meet certain
requirements, heads of the Village Resilience Board (LKMD) said
Tuesday.
According to LKMD executives in charge of channeling the aid
money, people wanting loans from the fund would, for instance,
have to submit a proposal to their neighborhood chief.
In the proposal, the applicants must give complete personal
details and specify the size of the loan requested and the type
of business the money would be used for.
A.M. Dani, LKMD head of the Kampung Bali subdistrict in Tanah
Abang, Central Jakarta, said that of the 20,000 residents of his
area, 2,000 people have been classified as poor and jobless, and
these would be divided into 100 groups.
"The aid, which will be handed over when they pass all the
requirements, could be used either collectively by the group or
individually. It's entirely up to the groups," Dani said.
Each group is required to repay the entire amount of the
interest-free loan over a period of one year, with the first
installment due three months after receiving the money, he added.
H. Emin of Klender subdistrict in East Jakarta insisted that
the aid would be given only to the real residents of the
respective areas.
"We, together with the local subdistrict chief, will strictly
control the use of the money," Emin said, adding that 4,000 of
Klender's population of 56,000 would be queuing for their share
of the Rp 1.4 billion loan earmarked for the area.
The heads of LKMDs in Kamal subdistrict, West Jakarta and
Kalibaru in North Jakarta also shared the idea of imposing strict
requirements on those applying for the loan.
The aid program, funded by the National Development Planning
Board, is conducted under the auspices of the PDMDKE, a program
designed to help people cope with the worst effects of the
ongoing economic turmoil.
As of Tuesday, many LKMDs had not yet received the funds, even
though the deadline for the disbursement was set for Jan. 15.
Out of the four LKMD representatives contacted Tuesday, only
Dani claimed to have received the money.
"A cheque worth Rp 178.06 million was cashed on Friday, which
we then put in an account at the (state-run) BNI branch in Tanah
Abang," Dani said.
According to Bambang Sungkono, head of the city development
planning board, the total amount of the funds are in the BRI bank
headquarters in Jakarta, waiting for immediate disbursement to
all LKMDs whose proposals meet the bank's requirements.
"The bank will immediately withdraw the money for them as soon
as they can fulfill the prerequisites. Without them, they'll get
nothing," he said. (ylt)