Ministry of Social Affairs Distributes 200 Thousand Basic Food and Ready-to-Eat Food to ODP and PDP COVID-19

JAKARTA (April 7th 2020) - The Ministry of Social Affairs distributed 200,000 packages of basic food and groceries to families of people under surveillance (ODP) and patients under surveillance (PDP) due to Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in DKI Jakarta.

"This is a form of attention from the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs where the tagline from the Ministry of Social Affairs is “Kemensos HADIR”. So, we are here from the Ministry of Social Affairs, together with the Dharma Wanita Persatuan (DWP) from the Ministry of Social Affairs, as well as the Era Solidarity Action Organization (OASE) of the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet, to prepare social assistance by providing 6,000 packaged rice and 6,000 basic necessities every day," said Grace in front of the media.

The Ministry of Social Affairs involves local governments down to the Rukun Tetangga (RT) level to distribute the aid.

"We cooperate with the Head of Social Services Agency, Urban Villages, RT / RW in the distribution mechanism in accordance with the data that we will share later," said the mother of two children.

The caring action with the tagline #KerjaBersama Against COVID-19 targets residents who are directly affected by the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Indeed, he continued, this is for families or workers affected during COVID-19, which will be given specifically for DKI Jakarta and its surroundings. Areas with red zone status will be prioritized.

"Those declared as red zones are spread across 73 urban villages," said Grace.

In preparing ready-to-eat food, the Ministry of Social Affairs deployed 70 Disaster Preparedness Cadets (Tagana) DKI Jakarta whose health checks had previously been carried out and were declared healthy and negative for COVID-19.

"Of course, we continue to coordinate with the Health Office (Dinkes). All the social workers here, Tagana, have done a rapid test, and the results are all negative, meaning they are in a fit condition," said Grace again.

They also follow the health protocol from the Health Office, equip themselves with wearing masks, gloves and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and do social distancing.

The provision of this assistance comes from the Ministry of Social Affairs, supported by assistance from a number of non-governmental organizations, such as the Yatim Mandiri Foundation, Rumah Zakat, and RM. Garuda, as well as operational car support from PT. Pos Indonesia for distribution to Social Services Agency Departments (Sudinsos) in five areas of DKI Jakarta.

The form of assistance provided is ready-to-eat food, which is prepared centrally at the Kalibata National Hero Cemetery Park (TMPN) through public kitchens. In addition, Grace added that the Ministry of Social Affairs also distributed basic food packages.

"Each package of basic food assistance contains the daily needs of the community, namely 5 kg of rice, cooking oil, sausage, instant noodles, ground coffee, tea bags, sardines, hand soap, salt, soy sauce and chili sauce," said Grace.

The COVID-19 outbreak is a social disaster, which is not only experienced by Indonesia, but also the world. Therefore, as a member of the Era Solidarity Action Organization (OASE) of the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet, he invited all people to help each other with the affected communities.

Grace ensured that all the meals met nutritional standards, as well as the health of the Tagana officers who cooked the aid.

"Earlier, I saw in a box containing rice, beef rendang, boiled eggs, stir-fried beans and tempeh, and there are bananas," he said.

1,500 Tagana

Meanwhile, the Director General of Social Protection and Security, Pepen Nazaruddin, said that as many as 1,500 DKI Jakarta Disaster Preparedness Cadets (Tagana) were involved in helping the DKI Provincial Government overcome the spread of COVID-19.

He admitted that he had instructed all of Jakarta's Tagana to join the sub-district and urban village task force (Satgas).

"Since the virus was first discovered in Indonesia, I have ordered all Tagana, especially DKI Tagana to coordinate with the Social Services Agency (Dinsos) to help deal with the spread of this virus," said Pepen.

Pepen added that Tagana proactively through the Social Services Agency carried out Social Services Agency spraying disinfectants in various public facilities, and was involved in the COVID-19 Task Force which is responsible for managing the Public Kitchen.

"They (Tagana) conducted socialization, sprayed disinfectants and helped provide public kitchens. Tagana also monitors residents suspected of being infected or ODP who live at home," said Pepen.