Even BLT BBM Money Used For Togel Gambling

A resident shows lottery gambling coupons. (ANTARA/Oky Lukmansyah)

JAKARTA - Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's (SBY) government decision to increase the price of fuel oil (BBM) has been criticized by many parties. This policy makes the Indonesian people miserable. The increase in prices in fact triggered an increase in the price of other commodities.

The joy of life is trying to be suppressed by giving the poor direct cash assistance (BLT). Instead of being a solution, BLT is like a new problem. BLT is considered to have created a beggar mentality. In fact, what is worse than BLT is actually used to participate in lottery gambling.

The increase in world oil prices has led to disaster for the whole of Indonesia. The SBY government also burned beards. The power of attorney was forced to take an unpopular policy. They chose to give the command to increase fuel prices in March 2005.

The price of premium is the most pronounced. The increase was from Rp1,810 to Rp2,400 per liter. The increase did not stop, but continued to volume two in October 2005. Premiums from the start were high at Rp2,400 to Rp4,500 per liter.

Bitter and bitter the increase in fuel was felt by all Indonesians. The narrative of difficulties in life for the little people is 'poor' everywhere. Everything stems from the increase in fuel which triggers an increase in the price of other staples.

This condition made all students demo injids. They want the government to stop suffering for the people. Like a tit for tat. The criticism tried to be answered by issuing a BLT policy for poor families.

The state will give Rp100 thousand per month. On the program paper it is promising. The implementation on the field is different. The program brought many problems. That money is considered not going to be enough to finance life in the midst of the increase in the price of all goods.

This condition was exacerbated by those who received BLT, not those who really needed it. Many of them who are not classified as poor actually receive it. The harshest criticism also emerged from the former President of Indonesia, Megawati Soekarnoputri.

He considered the policy of BLT not to prosper the people. The government should be more creative in helping the people. BLT actually raises the mentality of beggars.

Actually, Megawati expressed criticism of the BLT program several times, but she delivered quite sharp criticism twice. The first criticism was conveyed openly when she delivered her political speech when she opened a national working meeting of PDIP cadres in Makassar on May 27, 2008. Megawati conveyed her criticism of the BLT program based on the reason that the BLT program caused the mentality of beggars and this program to degrade the dignity of the Indonesian people.

"Megawati said: the distribution of BLT makes the nation even more legitimate and begging. What if our people have such a mentality? How can the nation's self-esteem be. Can we become a nation if people don't use their energy to work, but beg?" Megawati said as quoted by Mulyadi Sumarto in the book Social Protection and Clientalism (2018).

It is possible that many people are able to make maximum use of BLT. This condition is an example that one side of BLT is quite helpful. However, not a few also use BLT controversially. BLT is considered like a salary that can be used for anything, especially lottery gambling.

BLT recipients do not use their money to buy daily necessities, rice, side dishes, and so on. They actually take advantage of secondary needs, such as credit and lottery gambling. Sastrawan, Putu Setia saw that the phenomenon mushroomed with the government's kindness in providing BLT.

The use of BLT has deviated far. Many of them use BLT money to install dark totoan gambling numbers (togel). They hope that the BLT money used for gambling can double immediately.

The phenomenon of people using BLT money for lottery gambling appears everywhere. Sometimes it is already in a disturbing stage. Like falling on a ladder too. Already poor, so structureally poor too because of losing gambling.

BLT's money was scorched, as was their dream in broad daylight through the title lottery. The only thing they hope to get BLT back next month and use it again for lottery -- while beggars.

The same hope is scored: hopefully the chosen number will not miss. They can indeed hold back food up to two times a day. However, the desire to keep gambling always appears. They are not ashamed to use BLT's money as a lottery gambling capital.

In the villages, there are more pulse sellers than basic food stalls. I also see that almost every village has a board that says: Receive a cellphone pawn. From the village head staff, I know, no one is starving in the village, as long as they want to work anything. The term, odd."

If you reduce food from three times a day to two, for example, it's a normal thing. The omitted eating ration is replaced by buying credit. The most use of credit for SMS. They like to dream? They don't even guess the lottery via SMS, there are also those who put the lottery number. Teenagers and children just dream up," said Putu Setia in her paper Tempo entitled Poor People (2012).