"Until Now, I Haven’t Received Any Social Assistance"

KOMPAS/DHANANG DAVID ARITONANG

Mukhtar (64), a resident of RT 002 RW 003 Telagamurni Village, West Cikarang, West Java, has not yet received social assistance from the government. In fact, he was one of the people affected by Covid-19 who had not worked during this pandemic.

Mukhtar, 64, who lives in the RT 002/RW 003 neighborhood in Telagamurni village of West Cikarang, Bekasi regency, lost his job as a waste truck driver almost a month and a half ago. The factory where he worked has been closed since the government implemented the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in Greater Jakarta on April 15 as a measure to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission.

His son, who worked as a ride-hailing ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver, also lost his livelihood because he is not permitted to transport passengers under the current social restrictions. Mukhtar\'s wife is dead. Mukhtar now relies on his neighbors and relatives to meet his family’s daily needs.

"Until now, I have not received any assistance from the government," Mukhtar said on Thursday (4/6/2020).

Mukhtar and his son are just two people who the large amount of social assistance (Bansos) from the government has not reached, and many others affected by the Covid-19 outbreak have not received social assistance. Ironically, many people who were not eligible to receive the Bansos have received it. Many people are even receiving overlapping aid from two different social assistance programs.

Double

The secretary of the Telagamurni village administration, Doman A.A., acknowledged that some regular recipients of the cash aid (BST) program from the Social Affairs Ministry were also receiving food aid or the Presidential Assistance (Banpres) that had been specially set up to help people affected by the impacts of Covid-19.

Until now, I have not received any assistance from the government.

The two different social assistance programs are distributed to residents of the village by the national postal service, PT Pos. Local community leaders have asked those residents who received overlapping assistance to give one of their aid packages to another resident who had not received social assistance.

"Some are getting double [aid]. The leaders of the RT [neighborhood unit] have asked the recipients of double aid to give one of their aid packages to those residents who have not received any social assistance,” said Doman.

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KOMPAS/ADITYA PUTRA PERDANA

People apply for cash social assistance (BST) from the Social Affairs Ministry at the office of PT Pos Indonesia in Semarang, Central Java, on Thursday (21/5/2020). Social Affairs Minister Juliari P Batubara was in attendance, and assistance was given to 94,803 beneficiary families.

There are currently at least seven types of government social assistance for people affected by the impacts of Covid-19. Four of these comprise regular social assistance programs and a special Covid-19 social assistance program that is provided by the Social Affairs Ministry.

There is also the direct cash assistance (BLT) program, which is financed under the village funds program of the Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Ministry. The total funding allocation for this program is Rp 64.67 trillion (US$4.58 billion). In addition, there are also two other social assistance programs provided by provincial administrations and regency/municipal administrations.

Joko Widiarto, who heads the data and information center (Pusdatin) at the Social Affairs Ministry, said that recipients were not entitled to receive two different types of social assistance. He acknowledged that cases of overlapping social assistance had occurred because the data of the recipients of the ministry’s regular social assistance program was also included on the list of recipients of the basic food aid program for people affected by Covid-19.

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Pusdatin has developed a data clearance system so that local administrations can immediately remove the data of recipients who were receiving overlapping aid, as well as the data of people who were no longer eligible for social assistance.

Jakarta is among the regional administrations that frequently update their recipient data for the ministry’s social assistance program. However, the stories of Wanah, 50, and Romlah, 32, two residents of Duren Sawit in East Jakarta who work as domestic helpers, illustrate the problems with distributing social assistance in Jakarta.

In April and in May, Wanah received two types of social assistance, the Bansos basic food aid from the Jakarta Social Services and the Banpres food aid from the Social Affairs Ministry. Meanwhile, Romlah has not received any social assistance.

"In April, I got two [aid] packages, the Bansos and the Banpres aid. The amount of the aid packages is enough for my daily needs. In May, I received [the two aid packages] again. The aid has really helped my family," said Wanah.

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KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Workers load social assistance packages to truck to be distributed from PT Food Station Tjipinang Jaya Warehouse, Cipinang, East Jakarta, Thursday (23/4/2020).

In contrast, Romlah felt that the government aid was unfair because she did not receive any social assistance, while other residents were receiving two types of social assistance every month.

"I wonder why I was not given social assistance. The food aid would be quite helpful in meeting my daily needs, especially if there was double [the aid]," she said.

I wonder why I was not given social assistance.

The head of the Jakarta Administration Bureau, Premi Lasari, said that RT/RW leaders had been asked to provide new data so that all residents affected by the impacts of Covid-19 could receive social assistance.

"It turns out that many residents who are eligible for social assistance have not received social assistance. We have asked the RW [community unit] leaders to submit the names of new recipients for the social assistance [programs]," said Premi.