DKI Subsidized Food is Considered Not to Be the Right Target, Difficult Access and Budget Cuts 

ILLUSTRATION DOK VOI

JAKARTA - The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government is considered to have not been able to ensure the availability and access to subsidized food for social assistance (bansos) beneficiaries. This question emerged after the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) Faction of the DKI Jakarta DPRD received many complaints from the public during the recess.

Member of Commission B of the DKI Jakarta DPRD from the PSI Faction, Francine Widjojo, said the most frequent complaints came from residents who should be entitled to subsidized food, but instead had difficulty accessing it.

"The PSI faction still receives public aspirations related to the problem of subsidized food intake in DKI Jakarta," said Francine, Wednesday, February 11.

Francine said that in practice in the field, the online queuing system is often a major obstacle. Residents have to scramble for the barcode for subsidized food, which often runs out in just a few minutes. This condition makes many beneficiaries fail to get their rights.

"Residents have complained that it is difficult to get a barcode for subsidized food pickup online. In less than ten minutes, the online queue is gone," said Francine.

"The subsidized food types that should be available as many as six commodities as regulated in the Governor's Regulation, in practice are not available in every outlet," he continued.

In fact, DKI Jakarta Governor Regulation Number 28 of 2022 requires the DKI Provincial Government together with the food BUMD to provide six types of subsidized food for the beneficiaries at affordable prices.

This situation is exacerbated by the reduction of the food subsidy budget. According to Francine, the budget cuts have a direct impact on the decline in the coverage of subsidized food program services in Jakarta.

"The reduction in the food subsidy budget of around IDR 370 billion has a direct impact on the decline in the coverage of the food subsidy program services," he said.

Francine added that before the budget was cut, the new food subsidy program reached only about 31.85 percent of the total beneficiaries who should have received assistance.

Departing from this condition, PSI encourages the Regional Regulation Draft (Ranperda) on the Food Management System to be drafted with a stronger governance and in favor of vulnerable groups.

"This Food Management System must regulate budgetary support, distribution mechanisms, and adequate governance so that the fulfillment of the right to food in DKI Jakarta can be met without reduction and can expand its coverage and types of benefits," continued Francine.

He also linked the subsidized food issue with efforts to reduce stunting in Jakarta. According to him, if all eligible citizens can really enjoy subsidized food, the subsequent impacts such as stunting can be significantly suppressed.

"In fact, the stunting rate in DKI is still high at 17.2 percent," concluded Francine.