Protesters expose the misuse of Rp 109b aid

JAKARTA (JP): More than 500 people, including children, elderly women and pedicab drivers, staged a street rally here on Monday asking the government to postpone the disbursement of its Rp 109.52 billion aid package to the capital's poor.

Organized by the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), a nongovernmental organization, the protesters, comprising poor people from 10 subdistricts in the city, argued that the fund had been misused by corrupt officials of the Village Resilience Boards (LKMDs), the local bodies which have been given the right to manage the fund.

Escorted by dozens of soldiers and police, the protesters marched about one kilometer from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta to the office of the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) on Jl. Taman Suropati.

In an attempt to avoid traffic congestion, the protesters walked single file, holding hands and using ropes to separate themselves from the traffic on the street.

Some of the protesters carried statues, posters and banners calling on officials not to misuse the fund.

"Don't cut the fund for the poor" and "People are starving while LKMD holds meetings at Puncak" read some of the posters. Puncak is the mountain resort area south of here.

No clashes were reported and the noisy protest ended peacefully at 2 p.m., four hours after it began.

In a meeting with Bappenas' official Herman Haeruman, who is in charge of the social safety net program, UPC coordinator Wardah Hafidz said, "So far, the poor have no idea about the fund. It's not transparent and does not reach the needy residents."

Many LKMD officials have allocated portions of the fund to their wives, relatives and local officials, such as community and neighborhood chiefs, although they can not be categorized as poor people, Wardah, who was accompanied by 14 other protesters during the meeting, alleged.

Wardah also protested the city administration's decision to use Rp 2.74 billion of the fund for "project management and operation".

"The fund should be totally used for poor people since the government allotted a separate fund of Rp 450 million to the city administration for the operation of the project," she said.

The protesters also complained that the LKMDs did not follow program guidelines, such as transparency and accountability in the use and allocation of the funds.

The protesters, she said, were residents of the Kebon Kosong and Kemayoran subdistricts in Central Jakarta; the Pademangan and Pejagalan subdistricts in North Jakarta; the Jelambar and Kebon Jeruk subdistricts in West Jakarta; Manggarai Selatan subdistrict in South Jakarta; and the Rawa Terate, Pulogadung and Pondok Kelapa subdistricts in East Jakarta.

Portions of the fund, which is aimed at helping the poor overcome the current economic crisis, were disbursed last week to some of the city's 265 subdistricts.

The fund is to be disbursed in all of the city's subdistricts.

In response to the protesters, Herman agreed to postpone the disbursement of the fund to the 10 subdistricts represented by the protesters until he had a chance to inspect the subdistricts as requested by the demonstrators.

"I can not stop the disbursement of the fund to all of the subdistricts in the city because it would be like punishing everyone, even those who might not be guilty," he said, adding that his office would send a team to investigate the protesters' allegations.

Herman agreed to visit the 10 subdistricts on Saturday to determine whether or not the funds in the areas, totaling Rp 3 billion, had been misused.

A city official said last week that 75 percent of the Rp 109 billion fund had been disbursed. (jun/ind)