People Redistribute Social Aid to Others More in Need

Kompas/Wawan H Prabowo

People line up for cash assistance at a post office in Curug district, Tangerang regency, Banten, on Saturday (25/4/2020).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — People who qualify for social assistance amid the COVID-19 outbreak yet maintain a decent livelihood are redistributing the aid packages they receive to others more in need.

The aid packages, comprising basic needs, are prepared as part of the government’s social safety net policy during the pandemic. As of Monday (4/5/2020), distribution was still ongoing.

Tariah, a resident of neighborhood unit (RT) 05 in community unit (RW) 06, Srengseng subdistrict, Kembangan district, West Jakarta, is among those who chooses to give her aid package to others more in need.

Tariah returned the aid package she had received to her RT head, in order to be redistributed to others who need it more than her. “I mean it. Please give [the aid package] to those who do not have one yet. Those poor people. We have to share,” she said on Sunday (3/5/2020).

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Tariah said she promised to her RT head to redistribute any future aid package that she would receive to others more in need. She also said that she hoped the government would improve the data collection and distribution processes in its social assistance program as there were many residents, including her neighbors, who needed help.

Previously, Salomi Malaka, a housewife in Alor, East Nusa Tenggara, also rejected her share of the government’s aid package despite being eligible to receive it.

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

People line up for social assistance from Sahabat Anak in Manggarai, South Jakarta, on Saturday (18/4/2020). About 150 packages of social assistance worth Rp 250,000 each were given to Sahabat Anak members affected by COVID-19.

In a video that went viral on social media, Salomi said she did not want to receive any help as she could still make ends meet. “I have to work. God has given me ten fingers to work. I just don’t want it. I have no other reason,” she said.

In the end, an Alor regency basic needs distribution program representative just gave her face masks to be used when she worked on her plantation or went outside to shop for daily needs.

If your neighbors have yet to receive the aid packages, will it be okay for you to share just a bit of your 15 kilograms of rice?

When inspecting and distributing aid packages in several areas in Jakarta, Social Affairs Minister Juliari P Batubara asked locals whether they would be willing to help others during the pandemic. “If your neighbors have yet to receive the aid packages, will it be okay for you to share just a bit of your 15 kilograms of rice?” Juliari asked.

He was surprised when he found out that some of the residents had given their share of aid packages to others more in need. Juliari said that this was purely the residents’ initiative without any intervention.

Independent fundraising

Several neighborhoods in Jakarta have raised fund independently to help residents who have yet to receive aid packages, especially as the Jakarta administration had temporarily ceased its aid distribution to improve data collection of eligible recipients.

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In West Jakarta, residents of RW 001 of South Tanjung Duren subdistrict, Grogol Petamburan district, raise fund to help ease the burden of their poor neighbors who have yet to receive aid packages in the first round of distribution.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

A member of the Family Welfare Movement in Loji subdistrict distributes foods and face masks at community unit (RW) 01 in the subdistrict in West Bogor district, Bogor municipality, West Java, on Friday (17/4/2020).

The RW head, Syamsudin, said that only 603 families in the RW were deemed eligible to receive the government’s aid packages in the first round of distribution. This is despite the RW having submitted 1,400 eligible families spread in 15 RTs.

People in RW 002, Gelora subdistrict, Tanah Abang district, Central Jakarta, have also raised funds independently. After a resident initiated a distribution of 66 basic need packages to poor locals who had yet to receive the government’s aid packages, others followed suit.

The government’s aid distribution program is hindered by lacking data collection process at regional government level.

The government’s aid distribution program is hindered by lacking data collection process at regional government level. Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy said in Jakarta on Friday that the government monitored and evaluated its Covid-19 aid distribution program every day.

The government is working together with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in monitoring the aid distribution program. The Indonesian Military and the National Police are also involved in the aid distribution to minimize errors.

In line with KPK recommendation, the aid distribution uses the Social Affairs Ministry’s Social Welfare Integrated Data (DTKS). However, regional administrations are allowed to collect data of residents not included in the DTKS but are deemed eligible to receive Covid-19 pandemic aid.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

App-based motorcycle taxi drivers and residents gather for food assistance in the Kota area, West Jakarta, on Friday (17/4/2020).

“Aid recipients not included in the DTKS can be terminated workers, small traders and micro, small and medium business owners, as well as those who have lost their livelihoods all of a sudden, such as casual workers. They are the main targets of data collection outside of the DTKS,” Muhadjir said.