COVID-19 Social Assistance: Strategy To Help People Corrupted By Juliari Batubara

Evidence of money confiscated from the COVID-19 social assistance corruption OTT. Social Minister Juliari Batubara is a suspect in this case. (KPK Public Relations)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian government has not been silent when it sees its country being hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The power of attorney then took the initiative to provide assistance to those affected, from the poor and those who lost their jobs.

Social Assistance (Bansos) COVID-19, his name. The distribution of aid is mostly commanded directly by the Minister of Social Affairs (Mensos), Juliari Batubara so that people survive. Instead of Juliari sincerely helping for the lives of many people, the Social Assistance being rolled out was actually corrupted.

No country is ready to face the COVID-19 pandemic. Indonesia, especially. Lack of knowledge about the corona virus and its preventive measures became an obstacle when COVID-19 entered Indonesia in March 2020. This condition made the transmission rate of COVID-19 increase and claimed lives.

Panic has spread throughout the archipelago. The virus from Wuhan has not only increased the death rate. Many businesses are out of business and unemployment is everywhere. The Indonesian government is concerned about this.

The government does not remain silent. Various tactics are being played. Solutions according to directions from the World Health Organization (WHO) were also adopted. These solutions include maintaining distance, working from home, and prohibiting crowds. An option that can contain the spread of COVID-19.

The effect is everywhere. Many companies are forced to reduce employees until they stop operating. Many Indonesian people's fates are uncertain. They were affected. The government is also trying to rethink new solutions that can alleviate the suffering of the Indonesian people.

The government tried to prepare social assistance in March 2020. The budget for more than Rp431 trillion for the national economic recovery program (PEN) was prepared. The Ministry of Social Affairs under the command of Juliari Batubara can have the largest portion of distributing social assistance.

The ministry received funds to manage social assistance regularly and specifically. The regulars in question are PKH (Family Hope Program) and the Basic Food Card program or Non-Cash Food Assistance (BPNT). While Special Social Assistance is provided for the Jobedetabek area.

In addition to the large amount of social assistance funds, the very large number of recipients is an important reason to hasten the use of digital technology. In the social assistance program managed by the Ministry of Social Affairs, for example, there is a budget of IDR 45.1 trillion for basic needs programs distributed to 18.8 million beneficiary families spread from Sabang to Merauke.

With so many regions that must be served and variations in Indonesia's geographical conditions, it can be understood if there is always delay in distribution of aid. There are even reports of aid that are not on target. Without digital technology, various problems are difficult to avoid. Imagine, if the distribution of basic material assistance is carried out every month, there will be hundreds of thousands or even millions of transactions that must be managed and processed," said Hendri Saparini in his writing in Tempo magazine entitled Digitalized Social Assistance (2021).

The presence of social assistance managed by the Ministry of Social Affairs is far from perfect. Various problems often accompany the distribution of social assistance. Moreover, social assistance is intended for residents affected by COVID-19 from Sabang to Merauke.

The problems that accompanied the presence of social assistance also varied, from the wrong target social assistance to the slow distribution. However, that problem is not much. The real big problem is that the Minister of Social Affairs, Juliari, who is the main actor in distributing social assistance, is actually trying to misappropriate social assistance funds.

The social assistance corruption case emerged because the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) moved quickly to arrest Juliari in the Hand Catch Operation (OTT) with a total value of Rp. 14.5 billion. He was then named a suspect on December 6, 2020.

The arrest then opened Juliari's ulcers. He is considered to have taken advantage of his position to directly appoint a Commitment Making Officer (PPK) at the Ministry of Social Affairs and project partners. The direct appointment made Juliari free to take a quota of IDR 10,000 per food package from a value of IDR 300 thousand per social assistance package.

In all, Indonesia condemns Sellari. He is considered to have hurt humanity. The figure of the minister is also considered unconventional. Selling is heartless for trying to corrupt social assistance in the midst of living conditions of all Indonesian people. As a punishment, Sellingiari was sentenced to 12 years in prison for being proven guilty a few months later.

"KPK has named 5 (five) suspects, as recipients of JPB (Juliari P. Batubara), MJS, AW. As providers of AIM, HS," said KPK Chairman Firli Bahuri as quoted by the CNN Indonesia website, December 6, 2020.