Public Oversight Needed in Southeast Sulawesi’s Pandemic Cash Assistance Distribution

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.

KENDARI, KOMPAS – A budget of Rp 400 billion (US$28.42 million) has been allocated for Covid-19 mitigation efforts in Southeast Sulawesi. Of the budget, Rp 83.4 billion is earmarked for cash assistance in 16 local agencies. Public oversight is deemed necessary, due to widespread concerns that the budget is prone to misuse and may not reach the intended target.

The Southeast Sulawesi administration has allocated Rp 400 billion for Covid-19 mitigation efforts. Some Rp 241.5 billion will be used for program spending in various local agencies. Meanwhile, Rp 83.4 billion will be disbursed to local agencies for cash assistance to people affected by Covid-19. Approximately Rp 75 billion will be for unexpected expenses.

Southeast Sulawesi Covid-19 Transparency Alliance representative Yusuf Talama said that the government should be open regarding its budget use, both for programs and for cash assistance. This is especially because locals affected by Covid-19 need financial help immediately.

“There is still no information on how much of the reallocated budget will be used for [Covid-19 mitigation] programs, especially cash assistance. People eligible for the assistance have yet to obtain it. If this continues, people’s lives will get harder despite hundreds of billion having been approved [for Covid-19-related programs],” Yusuf said in Kendari on Monday (8/6/2020).

There is an impression that money is being squandered.

Furthermore, he continued, there were concerns that cash assistance allocated to local agencies would not reach its intended targets, as the budgets were allocated to agencies not directly involved in Covid-19 mitigation efforts.

Yusuf said that data on the government’s budget allocation that he received contained suspicious allocations. He cited that the local women’s empowerment and child protection agency was only given Rp 1 billion, while the local national and political unity agency (Bakesbangpol) got Rp 4.5 billion.

“This follows normal budgeting patterns with the title ‘Covid-19 mitigation’ added on. There is an impression that money is being squandered. This is why beneficiaries’ data must be accessible by everyone as this will be good for oversight,” he said.

Also read : “Until Now, I Haven’t Received Any Social Assistance”

KOMPAS/SAIFUL RIJAL YUNUS

Yusuf Talama, a representative of the Southeast Sulawesi Covid-19 Transparency Alliance, in Kendari, Wednesday (3/6/2020)

Southeast Sulawesi financial and asset management agency (BPKAD) head Isma said that budgets for Covid-19 mitigation efforts had been disbursed to local agencies before 29 May. The budget allocations are in line with proposals, both for capital spending and cash assistance.

Isma said Covid-19 mitigation programs and cash assistance distributions are delegated to local agencies to ensure that the money reaches the intended targets. Agenices will launch programs and distribute funding to affected beneficiaries in line with their duties.

“The cash assistance of Rp 83.4 billion is included in the regional development planning agency’s (Bappeda) unexpected expense. This is in line with suggestions from the regional inspectorate and development finance comptroller [BPKP] to avoid problems. However, each of the agencies will still be responsible for the distribution,” he said.

Also read : Muddled Data Causes Social Aid Confusion

BPKAD data shows that 16 agencies in South Sulawesi are responsible for cash assistance distribution. Two agencies with the largest amounts of budget allocations are the education and culture agency with Rp 22.3 billion and the social affairs agency with Rp 21.2 billion. Meanwhile, the human resource development agency gets Rp 5.3 billion, the energy and mineral resources agency gets Rp 3.4 billion and the communication and information agency gets Rp 205 million.

Southeast Sulawesi Social Affairs Agency head Armunanto said his office had collected the data of 50,500 poor families eligible to receive cash assistance. Each family will get Rp 500,000, which totals to around Rp 25 billion for all families.

Armunanto said that, amount-wise, the cash assistance budget was higher than the initial allocation. Therefore, he seeks to propose for additional funding through the unexpected expense allotment.

Also read : Muddled Data Causes Social Aid Confusion

KOMPAS/SAIFUL RIJAL YUNUS

A number of street children and scavengers in the center of Kendari city, Southeast Sulawesi, Tuesday (21/5/2019). In Kendari, poverty can clearly be seen in the corners of the city.

In Kendari, poverty is palpable in many corners. “They get a one-time transfer of Rp 500,000. We are in the process of opening accounts in the South Sulawesi regional development bank. We aim to complete the process and transfer the funds this week,” Armunanto explained.

He continued that poor people who had never received cash assistance would be prioritized in the program. A number of poor people have already received help from the Social Affairs Ministry, including through the Family Hope Program (PKH), social cash assistance and food assistance.

This way, he said, it was hoped that overlapping assistance between agencies could be reduced. “We also work together with regency administrations with the same database. This is done to ensure that people who really need help can benefit from the program,” Armunanto said.

Meanwhile, Southeast Sulawesi Communications and Information Agency acting head Syaifullah said that he had proposed that a budget of Rp 205 million allotted for his agency could be used to fund assistance for relevant parties in the office. The budget is currently at Bappeda and can be used for suitable programs to help those in need.