Residents of Pancoran Scavenger Village Receive Basic Food Assistance from the Ministry of Social Affairs

JAKARTA (April 9th 2020) - Residents of Kampung Pemulung RT 06 RW 02 Pancoran Village, South Jakarta received basic food and food packages from the Ministry of Social Affairs on Thursday afternoon (9/4).

The assistance was channeled by the Ministry of Social Affairs through the Indonesian Street Artists Foundation, and was received directly by the head of the Pemulung Village RT, Suparlan.

Suparlan then expressed his deepest gratitude to the Ministry of Social Affairs for providing assistance to its citizens.

"I, as the head of the RT here, very grateful to my colleagues here, especially the Ministry of Social Affairs, who have been present, care about our citizens," he said with sparkling eyes.

He said that later this assistance would be given to the residents of Kampung Pemulung who were in need. As for the distribution mechanism, he admitted that he would deliver it directly to residents homes.

"In my personal opinion, I will divide it directly into houses so that there are no crowds that we do not want. So, this is to avoid crowds of residents," he explained.

As for Saiful Anam, one of the residents who received the assistance, said that he and other residents of Kampung Pemulung have been unable to work as usual since the outbreak of the Corona virus.

"With conditions like this, I have been unable to do anything for the past few days. Indeed, his business is now stagnant in place, unable to run, all factories are closed," he admitted.

Furthermore, he said that he no longer received income. "There is no income at all, the expenses continue, yes," he said in a resigned tone.

In fact, as the head of the family, he is required to continue to meet his family's daily needs. "For the current needs, it is lacking, there are many daily needs. We eat, continue to pay people weighing too, the capital is also tight now," he continued.

So, according to him, the residents really need food assistance. For that, he feels lucky to have a helping hand from the Ministry of Social Affairs.

"Thank you to the Minister of Social Affairs, this is very helpful for us. Thank you for your assistance, and I hope this epidemic will pass quickly," he said hopefully.

On this day, the Ministry of Social Affairs has distributed 6,252 ready-to-eat food aid and 4,371 basic food packages in five areas of DKI Jakarta, out of the target of 200 thousand packages. This distribution process will continue until next week.

Meanwhile Grace Batubara, Advisor for the Dharma Wanita Persatuan (DWP) of the Ministry of Social Affairs, who has continued to oversee the distribution process since it began on Tuesday (7/4), has simple hopes for the aid distribution action by the Ministry of Social Affairs.

"The hope is very simple, yes, with the current situation in which our nation is experiencing COVID-19, we want to help the affected communities, especially informal workers, but that does not reduce it for underprivileged people," said Grace.

He also invited all elements, all lines to work together, to unite helping people affected by COVID-19.