Shocked and Proud, Reaction of Lubang Buaya Residents When Receiving Groceries

JAKARTA (April 27th. 2020) - Various reactions from residents of RW 10 Lubang Buaya Village, Cipayung District, East Jakarta received social assistance (bansos) packages of basic necessities from the government on Monday afternoon (27/4). They were shocked and proud when they received basic food assistance from President Joko Widodo.

567 basic food packages were distributed by the Ministry of Social Affairs through PT. Pos Indonesia, and received directly by the Chairman of the RW Lubang Buaya Village. Furthermore, these staples will be distributed to residents according to data spread across nine RTs.

Munip, Chairman of the RW, admits that the daily needs of residents in his sub-district have started to lack since the outbreak of COVID-19.  With the distribution of basic food packages from the government, he then expressed his gratitude for the assistance intended for his residents.

"Alhamdulillah, until now the situation is under control for security, but for matters relating to daily needs there is very little, but thank God today we are receiving assistance from the President," he said while monitoring the dropping of aid at the GOR of Lubang Buaya Village, Monday (27/4).

In distributing it, he keeps people from flocking to one location to get their food rations. So, he ordered each RT head to move directly to distribute aid to residents' houses.

"Later, we will distribute it directly to the RT heads and the residents. So, the process does not take them, we are the ones who come to the residents while maintaining the appeal from the government regarding the safety of COVID-19," he explained.

He hopes that this (epidemic) will not happen continuously considering that more than 50 percent of its citizens work as daily workers and are currently severely affected. "Hopefully this virus will pass quickly and the people's economy will move back quickly," he hoped.

Meanwhile, Mbah Badriah (76), a resident of RT 06 RW 10 Lubang Buaya Village, a recipient of the aid, expressed her feelings after being visited directly by PT. Pos delivering the groceries accompanied by the Head of RT 06.

"I was so surprised, thank God, thank you for the help President, hopefully it will be rewarded by God," he said stumblingly.

Meanwhile, another resident, Saan (45), who works as a garbage collector in his neighborhood, complained about the crisis that hit him and several other residents.

"(My job) is pulling the garbage from the residents of RT 06. It's huge (the effect), usually when I pull the trash, someone will give me IDR 5.000,00 to buy a drink, so far it has been almost 4 months now, all crises, " he said recounting.

As the head of the family, he has to rack his brains to be able to provide for his family's needs. "Yes, while working odd jobs, picking up used goods, bottles of mineral water, basically anything that can be sold, sometimes people tell me to dig the grass, that's what I receive everyday (after this outbreak)," he added.

However, he is grateful because the government is providing food packages to meet their basic needs. "I feel thank to God, very proud, very helpful for our family at home," he said gratefully.

The same thing was also expressed by another aid recipient, Usman (39), who felt it was difficult since his livelihood had been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

"My daily work is sound system operator. I have a lot of influence, for example, there are celebration events, so they are canceled, I can't hold events like single organ, band events, can't use the sound system" he said.

Furthermore, he compared the income he received before and after the occurrence of COVID-19. "Before this, the maximum income was there, not like today. For now it's really bad," he said languidly.

Knowing that he was on the list of recipients of government assistance, he expressed his gratitude. More than that, he also left a message aimed at the government in dealing with a global pandemic.

"To the government, just be patient in dealing with this Corona problem. For Mr. Jokowi, I pray for you and your family to always be healthy, so that the Corona virus also quickly disappears, keep your spirits up, sir," he said.

The Ministry of Social Affairs is targeting to distribute 1.9 million basic necessities to families vulnerable to COVID-19 in the Jabodetabek area. Aid has been distributed six times until next June.

The mechanism for distributing social assistance starts with the provision and packaging of basic necessities at the warehouse of the goods provider, then sent to the recipient's family home. In this case, the Ministry of Social Affairs is working with PT.  Pos Indonesia and Ojek to speed up distribution to the recipient's RT / RW address.  This mechanism is taken so that social assistance recipients do not leave the house during the prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Social Affairs ensures that every distribution is received by the entitled people. If the community finds problems related to the distribution of social assistance from the Ministry of Social Affairs such as: wrong targeting, fraud, extortion and so on, they can send a written message via email: bansoscovid19@kemsos.go.id or Whatsapp message at number: 0811 10 222 10 (not receiving calls). This channel is the number of the Ministry of Social assistance complaint service, not the Ministry of Social assistance recipient registration service.