Public to get say on use of safety net funds

Public to get say on use of safety net funds

BANJARMASIN, South Kalimantan (JP): Coordinating Minister for
People's Welfare/Poverty Eradication Haryono Suyono said on
Tuesday there would be more public say on the use of safety net
funds.

Speaking on a one-day visit here, the minister noted that
under the previous administration, decisions on fund usage were
made by the central government.

Haryono was launching programs related to the nationwide Rp
17.25 trillion social safety net scheme. The amount includes
US$14 billion from the international community.

Subsidized basic needs for the needy and low interest rates of
12 percent on business loans are part of the program. On the
national level such loans are labeled "applied technology" and
prioritize the poor. Loan funds amount to Rp 250 billion.

The amount of local funds were not revealed.

Obtaining the freedom to determine projects according to local
needs, Haryono acknowledged, "would not be easy."

"This requires a change of mentality," he told The Jakarta
Post, because subordinates were accustomed to receiving and
obeying orders from above.

A researcher with the Akatiga social center, Isono Sadoko,
earlier raised the need for supervision mechanisms, given plans
to directly channel safety net funds of Rp 250 million and Rp 750
million to about 15,000 villages in 1,500 districts. The program
starts Saturday and will last three years.

In response to questions on who would supervise the funds,
Haryono said all local authorities would be involved as well as
non-governmental organizations. "Besides, the funds will be
transferred through banks" to help avoid abuse, he said.

Haryono said people would be given better access to credit to
start new businesses.

"The government will only facilitate them by giving them
options, but people will have to make their own choices," he
added. For instance, one option introduced on Tuesday involves a
private agribusiness firm which plans to sell acabaca fruitless
banana tree seeds to locals, who could sell the fiber of the tree
after six to eight months to the firm.

Seeds, developed in the Philippines, are priced at Rp 5,000
each; about 400 are needed for one hectare and are estimated to
yield 10 tons of fiber. The president director of Jakarta-based
PT Nandinusa Abaca Mera, Djan Mahruzar, said one ton was priced
at about $400. The tree fiber can be processed for several uses
such as cattle feed, tissue material and ropes for ships.

Regarding distribution of subsidized basic needs in
Banjarmasin, Mayor Sajoko said that according to data collected
by the provincial government and the logistics agency, the needy
number about 260,000 people, or 50 percent of the city's
population of 520,000.

He added that earlier data prepared by the National Family
Planning Board (BKKBN) to determine those entitled to funds was
not considered reliable and was no longer used.

The BKKBN data as of September 1998 only lists 1,429 needy
families, he said. According to 1996 data of Central Bureau of
Statistics, the poverty line for urban areas in South Kalimantan
is below the monthly per capita income of Rp 43,987 and in rural
areas below Rp 35,374.

An official from the National Development Planning Board,
Gunawan Sumodiningrat, has said a problem with the distribution
of safety net funds was the different data of the needy.

During his visit, Haryono also opened a coordination meeting
of natural disaster prevention units. Authorities in several
provinces are preparing for more rain than usual.

South Kalimantan Governor Hasan Aman said the public, who face
floods each year, had been informed about the La Nin phenomenon
and how to prepare for it.

The province's natural disaster coordinating unit head,
Bachtiar Murad, said in August that Banjarmasin, Batulicin in
Kotabaru regency and Banua Lima region would be hit by floods.

About 15,000 sandbags have been placed around dams to
anticipate the dams breaching their banks. However, Hasan said
facilities and funds were still lacking. (01)