Minister of Social Affairs Asks Residents Not to Issue the Data of Social Assistance

JAKARTA (May 2nd, 2020) – Minister of Social Affairs Juliari P. Batubara appealed to residents not to worry about the data and to ask residents to work together in distributing basic food. This is in accordance with President Joko Widodo’s instruction to work hand in hand against COVID-19.

“I don’t think we have to make a fuss about the data, everything can be resolved in a friendly manner, in mutual assistance, we are Indonesians and we like to work together,” Said Juliari while observing the process of distributing basic food in Bidara Cina, Jatinegara, East Jakarta, Saturday (2/5).

Social Affairs Minister hopes that all residents get basic food from the government evenly.

“So, I told the residents or families who have recieved social assistance from the provincial government or from anyone, yes, they should not be given twice but they should be informed, and given to other families who have not received any basic food,” he explained again.

This was done because of the limited amount of basic food supplies, so that not all residents in the DKI Jakarta area could be provided with basic food. By following the advice of the Social Affairs Minister, it is hoped that the distribution of basic food is evenly distributed throughout the region.

“It is impossible for us to give it to everyone, I think we can see it by ourselves that the RT/RW agreed to be organized neatly so that no one feels wronged or feels ignored, I think so,” Juliari emphasized.

Ministry of Social Affairs distributed basic food to 1.3 families in DKI Jakarta and 600 thousands families in Bodetabek with an aid value of 600 thousands rupiah for three months, from April to June.

The Social Affairs Minister, together with the Director General of Social Protection and Security, Pepen Nazaruddin, and the Inspector General of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Dadang Iskandar, visited several locations to ensure that the distribution goes as planned.

Meanwhile, if the residents find problems with the social assistance from the Ministry of Social Affairs that are misdirected, embezzlement, or illegal fees during its implementation, they can immediately report to the social assistance of the Ministry of Social Affairs hotline number 0811 10 222 10, or via email bansoscovid19@kemsos.go.id. However, the hotline provided by the Ministry of Social Affairs is not a hotline for the registration of social assistance recipients.

Head of RW 01 of Kelurahan Bidara Cina, Oktavianus, responded positively to the Social Affairs Minister regarding the distribution of basic food. He considered the policy to be more effectively applied to the distribution of basic food in his area.

“Alhamdulillah, I also just heard from the Minister directly that the basic food is distributed evenly, it probably would be more effective for our residents,” he said.

Moreover, he admitted that he would provide an understanding to the residents before distributing 133 basic food packages to their houses.

“Later, we will tell the residents (who have previously accepted it), hopefully they will understand that for those who have got it, like the Minister stated, they won’t get it anymore, so it’s no longer a problem, alhamdulillah,” he said happily because he got a solution from the problems he had faced.

The distribution of 342 basic food packages at RW 05 Kelurahan Koja, Kecamatan Koja, North Jakarta was attended by the Director General of Social Protection and Security, Pepen Nazaruddin.

“We made sure that the basic food for DKI Jakarta area reaches those who have the right to receive it, so we checked everything, its contents and the distribution ran smoothly, there were no obstacles. All kelurahan in DKI Jakarta will receive this,” said Pepen in Koja, North Jakarta, Saturday afternoon (2/5)

Furthermore, he said that the social assistance for COVID-19 is currently still in the first stage. Meanwhile, cash assistance for the people outside DKI Jakarta has been launched for all regions in Indonesia.