Pos Indonesia to assist in cash aid cards distribution

Mustaqim Adamrah , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 05/21/2008 10:44 AM | City

State-owned postal service company PT Pos Indonesia says it will directly deliver cash assistance to low-income families.

The company's operational district IV deputy head, Bangbang Suhendar, said Monday that PT Pos Indonesia would distribute cards to targeted families in each subdistrict.

"We'll cooperate with the subdistrict offices to ensure the program runs effectively," said Bangbang at City Hall after a meeting with district and subdistrict heads Monday.

To help the country's 19.1 million low-income households cope with planned fuel price increases, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has instructed Rp 14.1 trillion (US$1.55 billion) in direct cash assistance be disbursed.

Under the scheme, qualified households will receive Rp 100,000 per month in compensation for the planned price increase.

In 2005, when a similar assistance scheme was introduced, the 267 subdistrict offices were responsible for card distribution, with the postal company acting as a payment agent for the disbursement of the money.

Bangbang said the company guaranteed low-income households would not need to queue as they did in 2005.

"A post office will serve several subdistricts one day and other subdistricts another," he said.

People will be able to collect their aid whenever they want as the cash assistance cards are valid from May 23 until the end of December this year.

The second phase of the program is expected to end in December next year.

According to the Jakarta Statistics Agency, the administration will distribute direct cash assistance to 157,515 low-income families this year, down from 160,480 in 2005.

On Tuesday, the company distributed cards to some 76,000 families in Central and North Jakarta.

Although the policy faced some resistance in other provinces, the card distribution ran smoothly here.

The rest of the cards will be distributed today.

A member of the City Council's Commission E for social welfare, Selamat Nurdin, said commission members demanded to be involved in the distribution of assistance as watchdogs and in evaluating the program.

"We need to guarantee the program is effective and that all targeted families receive the money the government has promised," he said.

He said councilors had never been involved in the process despite the regional autonomy law stipulating city councils should play a role alongside the administration.

Comments (0) | Post comment

A | A | A |