World Bank says it listens to the people's aspirations

JAKARTA (JP): The World Bank's country director, Mark Baird, said here on Monday that the Bank's recommendations on the disbursement of its US$600 million social safety net loan to Indonesia reflect the aspirations of the people.

After a meeting with members of Civil Society, an NGO known locally as Masyarakyat Madani, he told journalists that the World Bank had taken into account the concerns raised by local non- governmental organizations and professionals in an earlier consultation with the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas).

During the meeting, Civil Society representatives, including Rita Serena Kalibonso, Saparinah Sadli and Mayling Oey, questioned Baird on the WB's reasons for not including their concerns in the bank's document on the loan recommendation.

Civil Society and a number of other NGOs issued 13 points of recommendations in the consultation with Bapenas on April 22 to eliminate the possibility of fraud in the disbursement of social safety net loans.

The suggestions asked for more transparency in the fund- disbursement system and assessment of target recipients, wider distribution of information on the program to the public, accurate data on recipients, simple procedures and effective monitoring and assessment mechanisms.

Rita said the WB report and contract loan document, which contains detailed information and guidelines for the disbursement of the $600 million loan, did not touch even one of the 13 recommendations.

"It seems to us that Bappenas used the consultation with NGOs only to show that the government involved the public in managing the social safety net program," she said.

The World Bank issued recently document titled "Report and Recommendations of the President of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to the Executive Directors on a Proposed Social Safety Net Adjustment Loan of US$600 Million to the Republic of Indonesia". The document will be used as a guide and reference for the disbursement of the $600 million loan, which is part of the WB's $1.1 billion assistance scheme approved to Indonesia in May. The remaining $500 million was allocated for the bank's Policy Reform Support Loan II (PRSL II).

The government allocated about Rp 9.8 trillion (about US$13 billion at the current rate) to finance the social safety net program for the 1998/1999 fiscal year ended in March, and Rp 17.9 trillion for the current fiscal year.

The WB's handling of the $600-loan has been widely criticized by many local organizations. Among criticisms were fears that the money would not reach the intended target recipients but would be used by government-linked parties to win the general election.

The government then agreed not to use the loan until after June 30 to ensure that the funds would not be used to gain votes.

Baird denied the Civil Society's allegations and said that the WB did not only support the recommendations, but that it did in fact include them in the loan contract with the Indonesian government.

"We will make available a list of the more specific provisions of the loan organized around the 13 points and make that available to Professor Sadli, the group and the public by the end of this week," he said, referring to the NGO's Saparinah Sadli.

"However, we can't formally change the legal requirement of the loan," he added.

He said the bank would involve the Civil Society here in the design of the WB recommendations on future poverty programs, for which needs assessment has begun.

"We will make sure that additional information to be provided will be (provided) before any disbursement takes place under the World Bank loan," he said.

Baird also said the document on the $600 million safety net loan, which previously had restricted recipient requirements and was to be used only for the performance of official duties, could be now distributed to the public.

"This is the first time that a document like this has been made available by the World Bank to the public," he said, adding that the WB has also translated the Letter of Development Policy from the government of Indonesia and the policy matrix into Indonesian as part of attempts to make the program more transparent.

Baird said the bank wanted NGOs and the public to be involved not only in monitoring, but also in decisions on overall funding, program design and the allocation of funds under the poverty alleviation scheme.(cst)