Rice for poor suspended due to delayed payments
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Indramayu
Those on low incomes in the West Java town of Indramayu are about to lose access to cheap rice provided by the government as the local depot of logistics plans to suspend its distribution.
Chief of the logistics depot Asep Jaya Sumirat said on Thursday the suspension was imminent as heads of districts and villages here have been reluctant to pay the bill since February this year. The rice bill arrears has now reached Rp 453.8 million.
"If the heads of districts and villages fail to pay immediately, I'm afraid the poor will no longer have access to low-price rice because we have not received the money," Asep said.
He said the low-income people had actually paid for the rice but administration officials had apparently held the money for their own purposes.
The suspension would increase rice reserves in the office's warehouses, which would imply extra expense due to the cost of stockpiling.
His office distributes 2,852 tons of rice to 142,958 poor families living in 310 villages in 24 districts every month at low prices. Those on low incomes pay only Rp 1,000 per kilogram of rice.
Asep said that the excuse given by the errant officials was that they were holding the money because they had not yet completed verification of data on rice distributed compared with payments.
The Regional Development Supervisory Body has revealed some cases of misappropriation of public funds raised from the poor.
The misuse of funds took place in, among others, Lelea district, where the head of the social welfare division held some Rp 22.9 million of money collected from the poor.
In Cipancuh village, Haurgeulis district, a village official allegedly swindled some Rp 15 million in June while in July an official at the village of Beduyut in Bangodua district allegedly embezzled some Rp 20 million. Similar things also occurred in the villages of Situraja and Mekarjaya in Haurgeulis district.
No investigation has yet been made into the officials' conduct.
Asep urged the regency administration to distribute the rice directly to the poor, instead of disbursing it via district and village officials.
He suggested that the regency administration, like other regencies in West Java, provide money in advance to cover the rice payments. This would ensure rice security for those on low incomes.
"With the cash-in-advance system, we can prevent the funds from being misused and rice distribution can run smoothly," Asep said.