Minister of Social Affairs Greets the Neglected Residents Affected by COVID-19 at Karet Sport Center

JAKARTA (13th June 2020) ­– The Indonesian Minister of Social Affairs, Juliari P. Batubara accompanied by the Director General of Social Rehabilitation, Harry Hikmat, Special Advisor to the Minister of Social Affairs for Internal Affairs, Joko Sambodo, the Mayor of Central Jakarta, Bayu Meganthara and the Head of the DKI (Capital Special Region) Jakarta Social Service, Irmansyah, visited the Karet Tengsin Sport Center (GOR) Central Jakarta, which is used as a Temporary Shelter for Residents Displaced due to COVID-19, especially in the DKI Jakarta.

On this visit, the Minister of Social Affairs handed over the Basic Food and Social Rehabilitation assistance directly to a number of parties, namely 2781 basic food assistance packages for the Balarenik Social Welfare Institution (LKS), basic needs assistance for affected residents living in the GOR, basic food assistance for the Jakarta "Mulya Jaya" Center with 242 packages and Social Rehabilitation Assistance for 385 packages, as well as the Social Service for DKI Jakarta Province for 2027 basic food assistance packages and 100 packages for Social Rehabilitation Assistance.

The Minister of Social Affairs expressed his appreciation to the DKI Jakarta government, especially the Social Service and the Mayor of Central Jakarta for their cooperation in handling displaced people due to COVID-19.

"This is proof of the government's seriousness in providing services to residents affected by COVID-19, and emphasizes that the country is present in its efforts to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in DKI Jakarta," said Juliari in front of the media crew (12/06).

"This good cooperation is to be maintained, including in the distribution of social assistance. Make sure that we can help all residents affected by COVID-19. Thank you to all those who have worked hard, hopefully this assistance can be useful for the affected community, "said the Minister of Social Affairs.

DKI Jakarta as the epicenter of the spread of COVID-19 dominates positive cases in Indonesia. As a strategic step to prepare for the implementation of the New Normal, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government will determine the status of the Transitional PSBB (Large-Scale Social Restriction) from June 5th to the end of June 2020.

In this approach, the Ministry of Social Affairs is working with the Provincial Government of DKI Jakarta to provide a TPS in the form of a GOR that functions to temporarily accommodate displaced residents as a result of controling the Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) on roads / public spaces.

In this sports center (GOR), they will be recorded, have their health checked and given food from the public kitchen. This public kitchen is managed by Youth Disaster Preparedness (TAGANA) of the Ministry of Social Affairs in collaboration with the local Social Service Office. For those who still have families, the Ministry of Social Affairs will return them home.

Currently, the sports center (GOR) that have been provided are Karet Tengsin Sports Center (GOR) Central Jakarta, Tanjung Priok Sports Center (GOR) North Jakarta, Pasar Minggu Sports Center (GOR) South Jakarta, Ciracas Sports Center (GOR) East Jakarta and Cengkareng Sports Center (GOR) West Jakarta. Each GOR (Sport Center) has a capacity to accommodate as many as 100 people. So to avoid overcrowding at the TPS, the Ministry of Social Affairs is also trying to handle it in the community through LKS.

Another approach is the Social Rehabilitation Center-based approach. This approach is the last alternative as a reference for GOR in DKI Jakarta which requires special handling. This service is prioritized for vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women, elderly and persons with disabilities.

Several centers in the Jakarta and Bekasi areas were used as TPS. These Centers are the Jakarta "Mulya Jaya" Center, the Jakarta "Melati" Center, the Bekasi "Tan Miyat" Center, the Bekasi "Budhi Dharma" Center and the Bekasi "Pangudi Luhur" Center.

Based on data compiled by the PWTC Data Team, the total displaced people who have been served until June 11, 2020 at 10.55pm at TPS are 2,027 people, at the Social Rehabilitation Center are 342 people, and the total population in the community are 2,781 families. The total number of people displaced by COVID-19 are 5,150 people, and they will be given food packages.

There are 3,266 social rehabilitation assistance packages covering basic needs services, family support, social care and psychosocial therapy.