President Jokowi Calls on Residents to Register for Social Aid

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (right) monitors the distribution of cash assistance at the Bogor Post Office in West Java, Wednesday (13/5/2020). Every family head who is included on the list of beneficiaries will receive Rp 600,000 and the aid disbursement will be divided into two phases until before Idul Fitri.

BOGOR, KOMPAS—The government has acknowledged that the social assistance data it has on disadvantaged people and citizens affected by the Covid-19 epidemic is incomplete. The people are therefore expected to report to the heads of their neighborhood units (RT) and community units (RW) so that they are included among the list of recipients for the second phase of social assistance.

“The data can still be improved, but I think in the second phase late next month, it will be a lot better,” President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said on Wednesday morning (13/5/2020) after monitoring the disbursement of cash aid at the Bogor municipal post office on Jl. Juanda in Bogor, West Java.

Also present at the aid monitoring were Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy, Social Affairs Minister Juliari Batubara and Bogor Mayor Bima Arya Sugiarto.

Also read: Inaccurate Data Is the Source of the Problem

President Jokowi explained on the occasion that the cash aid and other safety net schemes, like the Family Hope Program, the Sembako (staple foods) Card and village direct cash aid, were expected to reach around 55 percent of both disadvantaged people and citizens affected by the Covid-19 epidemic in the population.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo monitors the distribution of cash assistance at the Bogor Post Office on in West Java on Wednesday (13/5/2020).

It was hoped that the bansos (social assistance) would thus strengthen purchasing power and that domestic consumption would soon return to normal. However, President Jokowi also acknowledged that some people were not yet recorded in the data on bansos recipients, as the Covid-19 epidemic emerged relatively suddenly to impact nearly all areas of life.

President Jokowi reminded people were still not unlisted as bansos recipients to report to the heads of their RT and RW. In so doing, they would be included on the list of recipients for the second phase of aid disbursement. Jokowi affirmed that the bansos reserves were now being prepared.

Meanwhile, Juliari added that the bansos recipient data would be improved in coordination with regional administrations, which were expected to accommodate affected unregistered residents accordingly.

“We’re also going to accommodate (unrecorded residents). We realize that the first phase still has shortcomings, [with] some data overlapping. The second phase can be improved through better coordination,” he said.

Bima Arya said that in the city of Bogor, residents could check their names and citizen identity numbers (NIK) on the SALUR (Collaboration and Solidarity System for the People) online database, which could be accessed at salur.kotabogor.go.id. If visitors to the site were not yet listed as bansos recipients, they could apply for inclusion in the second phase of aid.

Kompas

Bogor Mayor Bima Arya

The Bogor municipal administration was continuing to clean up its data by deleting duplicates and adding the names of new bansos recipients. “If the quota (for bansos from central and regional governments) has been filled, we shift the aid to the foster family program that we are launching tomorrow. This is the fund from residents to residents, one family helping another family,” said Bima.

So far, Bogor has compiled a list of 159,162 household recipients from the central government, the West Java provincial government and the Bogor municipal administration. The Bogor administration is managing 23,000 household recipients, while the remainder are to receive their aid from the central government or the provincial administration.

The central government has allocated cash assistance for 9 million people in Greater Jakarta (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi). The cash assistance is intended for people affected by Covid-19 who are not registered as recipients of the Family Hope Program or the Sembako Card (non-cash food aid/BPNT). The monthly cash assistance provides Rp 600,000 for three months.

Also read: Political Image of Social Assistance

Health protocols

Recipients wore face masks and queued outside the Bogor post office to receive their allotted cash assistance. City officers checked each recipient’s body temperature before they were permitted to enter. Hand sanitizers and masks were also provided next to the doors of the post office.

Inside, the recipients sat on chairs arranged in compliance with the social restrictions as they waited for their turn. President Jokowi appreciated the orderly and smooth distribution of the aid.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Residents line up for cash assistance at the Bogor Post Office in West Java on Wednesday (13/5/2020).

One aid recipient, Devinda, 24, who lives in Cibogor subdistrict, said the cash aid was extremely helpful, as she had been laid off for over a month. The shop on Jl. Suryakencana where she worked had been closed for the same duration and she has received no pay. Devinda has a five-month-old baby and her husband is a driver.

To receive the cash aid, Devinda went to the head of her RT, who asked her to fill out a form and submit a copy of her family ID card. About two weeks after her data was submitted, she received a notice early on Wednesday morning to come and collect her cash assistance at the post office. Devinda hoped that many more people would receive the cash assistance, noting that many disadvantaged people in her area had not yet received any aid.

Pardi, 42, who lives on Gang Teksan in Bogor, also expressed his gratitude for the cash assistance. His income has been uncertain since the emergence of the Covid-19 outbreak, and he worried about how he could continue to support his wife and four children.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Rohmah, 30, shows the cash assistance she received at the Bogor Post Office in West Java on Wednesday (13/5/2020).

Pardi is a food delivery worker at a restaurant and used to work seven days a week for a daily wage of Rp 100,000 to Rp 150,000. Now, he works just three days a week and earns Rp 50,000 per day.

“This (bansos) money is for food for my family,” he said.