Protest over misuse of emergency funds goes on

JAKARTA (JP): An executive from the United Development Party (PPP) complained on Friday that unless a person was directly linked to the ruling Golkar or close to the city administration, they would likely be excluded from the disbursement of an emergency fund amounting to over Rp 109 billion.

Djafar Badjeber, head of PPP's Jakarta chapter, said that PPP party members who were eligible for the fund had difficulties receiving any of the disbursed aid.

"We find that there are still political disparities in the distribution of the aid. It is just one of so many forms of misuse of the fund," he said.

He said continued mismanagement was feared because executives of the Village Resilience Boards (LKMD) responsible for channeling the fund to the people were Golkar members or closely linked to the local government.

Djafar said that such mismanagement virtually ensured that the program would fail to empower poor people severely affected by the economic crisis.

"Even though the authorities urge local community members to help control the program, our party members find it difficult even to get data on the program," he said.

From the fund, Rp 106.7 billion will be disbursed directly to 265 LKMDs throughout the city under the National Development Planning Board's (Bappenas) program, designed to help people cope with the worst impacts of the economic crisis.

Criticism of the equity and transparency of the aid distribution has been aired by several parties, including city councilors and nongovernmental organizations.

Most critics warn of the misuse of the fund because there are no clear controls to ensure the disbursed aid reaches the people who need it.

Meanwhile, the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) urged the government on Friday to postpone the disbursement of the remaining 30 percent, about Rp 32.8 billion, of the fund pending the establishment of clear-cut guideline on its utilization.

UPC coordinator Wardah Hafidz said the 70 percent of the fund which had already been disbursed was believed to have been misused by LKMD officials.

"To avoid more corruption, we demand that the government postpone the disbursement of the remaining aid until the next fiscal year," Wardah said.

She suggested that the government redesign the aid program by involving more nongovernmental organizations in the disbursement process.

Based on visits by Bappenas officials to 10 subdistricts in the city, UPC discovered several abuses in the utilization of the fund, she said.

In Kebon Kosong subdistrict, Central Jakarta, for example, LKMD officials allocated portions of the fund to their wives, relatives and local officials, including community and neighborhood chiefs, although the fund was designed to aid the poor.

She also said that in the Manggarai Selatan subdistrict, South Jakarta, some of the fund was reportedly used to finance the renovation of 24 small mosques, although there were actually only 20 small mosques in the subdistrict.

In Kampung Rawa, Pondok Kelapa subdistrict, parts of the fund supposedly were used to build a security post, although the post had been built through the financial support of local residents before the aid package was disbursed, she said.

According to Wardah, the alleged misuse and misallocation of the fund created jealousy among residents. "The misuse could create anger among the poor people who really deserve and need the fund."

She also said the fund requirement that recipients have permanent houses is unfair because most of the people who have permanent houses in the city are rich.

She also said that 70 percent of the city's poor only had temporary identification cards, even if they already had lived here for over 10 years.

Among those who did not possess identification cards were thousands of residents who were evicted from their land during the 1990s to make room for development projects, she said.

"Even if they have their ID cards, they can't receive the fund because they are judged as living illegally on state-owned land since their evictions," she said.

As an example, she cited 545 poor families in the Kampung Rawa area of the Kebon Jeruk subdistrict who were declared ineligible for the fund because they continued to live on state-owned land after they were evicted in 1992.

According to Wardah, Bappenas officials said that they would discuss further the alleged misuse of the fund.

She suggested that in the future the fund be managed by community groups and religious organizations, such as Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, instead of government-appointed officials.

On Feb. 1, more than 500 poor people from 10 subdistricts in the city staged a demonstration in front of the Bappenas building on Jl. Taman Suropati in Central Jakarta, to protest the misuse of the fund. (jun/ind)