Social Affairs Ministry Distributes Rp544 Billion in Aid Across South Sulawesi

The Ministry of Social Affairs has distributed social assistance with an accumulative value of Rp544 billion in South Sulawesi Province. The aid was symbolically handed over during a Specific Working Visit of Commission VIII of the House of Representatives at the South Sulawesi Governor’s Office in Makassar. The assistance distributed includes buffer stock logistics for disasters for the South Sulawesi Provincial Social Office, the Socio-Economic Empowerment Programme along with components for Disaster Preparedness Villages, Social Cemeteries, and Social Barns in Makassar City. The Ministry also distributed the Sembako Programme and the Family Hope Programme for the April, May, and June 2026 allocation periods, as well as Social Rehabilitation Assistance through the Wirajaya Centre in Makassar, the Gau Mabaji Centre in Gowa, and the Pangurangi Centre in Takalar. The Head of the Commission VIII delegation, Erwin Aksa, stated that the visit aimed to ensure the House’s oversight function runs optimally so that all social assistance programmes are truly on target and provide benefits to the community. ‘This specific visit aims to ensure the House’s oversight function runs optimally in the field to monitor all social assistance clusters, from disaster logistics to economic empowerment programmes, so that they truly have a real impact on the welfare of the people in South Sulawesi Province,’ he said in a written statement on Friday. In addition to the aid distribution, he also conducted an evaluation and supervision of the implementation of various Ministry programmes in South Sulawesi. The visit also discussed accelerating the updating of poverty data and optimising the role of the Ministry’s social rehabilitation centres to be more adaptive in responding to the social, medical, and economic needs of the community. The Head of the Makassar City Social Office, Andi Bukti Djufrie, appreciated the budget intervention and various programmes which were considered to play an important role in maintaining the region’s social and economic stability. ‘Thank you for the great attention from the Central Government. We are committed to ensuring that field coordination runs well so that the utilisation of assistance such as PKH, Sembako, and the ATENSI programme can be felt maximally by the community,’ he said.