Village heads criticize fuel compensation plan

The Jakarta Post ,  Cirebon, Yogyakarta, Makassar   |  Wed, 05/21/2008 10:43 AM  |  Headlines

Officials and families in parts of the country are criticizing government plans to provide financial compensation to help the poor cope with looming price increases.

They cited a similar compensation plan in 2005 when inaccurate data led to distribution problems.

In Cirebon, West Java, over 400 village heads of a group called the FKKB said cash aid for the poor was not educative and could cause conflicts among the community.

They said long-term labor-intensive programs, such as building irrigation ditches, roads or rice barns, were better options.

"That way the communities will get paid for their work" while also benefiting from the infrastructure, FKKB chairman Abadi said.

The village heads, he said, cited the 2005 experience in which direct cash aid was distributed ahead of an average 120 percent cut in fuel subsidies. Many families said they did not receive any aid.

"In such a situation, we (the village heads) will always be the target of anger," Abadi said.

In Yogyakarta, a 400-member forum of neighborhood heads also said the government should review the cash aid program.

"There are many eligible poor families who have not been listed for the aid. We are afraid the cash aid will only end in conflicts in the community," forum chairman Widayanto said.

He said locals had yet to recover from perceived injustice in the distribution of reconstruction money for the 2006 earthquake. They said neighborhood heads should be involved in determining who was eligible for the aid.

In Makassar, poor families rallied against the program.

Rimang, 61, said the monthly disbursement of Rp 100,000 (US$11) would do little to help her family with food prices that were already soaring even before the reduced subsidies for fuel.

"We cannot even afford to pay for our daily kerosene needs with that amount," said Rimang, a scavenger.

She said her family of six would need an additional Rp 150,000 to 300,000 a month due to the rise in prices.

Selong, 73, said that in 2005 those on the recipient list of the cash aid included owners of permanent homes, television sets or motorcycles, while the many of the poorest received nothing.

Syahrir Sappaile, head of the local community empowerment office (BPM), which was tasked with distributing the cash aid in 2005, acknowledged the problems. However, he said, the distribution was conducted based on data supplied by the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS).

Makassar BPS office head M. Ratman said mistakes were due to the limited time for data collection as well as cultural problems within the community.

"Those who did not realize the data was needed for cash aid distribution may have provided inaccurate information," he said.

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