Rice for poor suspended due to delayed payments
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.