Jokowi: The Distribution Of Social Assistance Is Problematic In The Field

President Joko Widodo (Photo: Twitter @jokowi)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo admits there are problems in the distribution of social assistance (bansos) to the community in the midst of the corona virus pandemic or COVID-19. In fact, he wanted the assistance to reach the recipient immediately without taking a long time.

"It turns out that in the field there are many obstacles and the problem is a convoluted procedural problem," said Jokowi when opening a limited meeting on simplifying procedures for cash assistance and village fund BLT which was broadcast on the Cabinet Secretariat YouTube account, Tuesday, May 19.

In extraordinary conditions such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, he emphasized, there should be no more complicated procedures in the distribution of social assistance. This is because what the community needs right now is the speed of receiving aid.

So, he asked his ministers to simplify the complicated procedure. "I ask that the rules be made as simple as possible, as simple as possible without reducing accountability. So that implementation in the field can be flexible," he said.

Meanwhile, to prevent the occurrence of criminal acts of corruption, the former governor of DKI Jakarta has invited existing institutions such as the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP), and the Attorney General's Office to monitor this social assistance.

On the other hand, Jokowi also acknowledged that there was an out of sync recipient data. He asked the relevant ministries to involve RT / RW and villages with a more open and transparent mechanism so that problems in the distribution of social assistance in the form of direct cash assistance (BLT) for village funds and cash assistance could be resolved immediately.

"I ask for it to be resolved immediately so that people who are waiting for help can immediately get it," he said.

Previously, President Jokowi asked the public to ask RT and RW and village heads if they had not received social assistance from the government in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I hope the community will also continue to ask their RT and RW or village heads," said Jokowi in a press statement broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat YouTube account, Saturday, May 16.

The former Governor of DKI Jakarta also emphasized to the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK), the Minister of Social Affairs, and the Minister for Villages, Disadvantaged Areas and Transmigration (Mendes PDTT) to accelerate the process of distributing village cash transfers (BLT) or cash social assistance. by cutting the cumbersome bureaucracy.

Moreover, until now, said Jokowi, the direct cash assistance has not been entirely delivered to people who need it. For village BLT, which was taken from village funds, only 15 percent had been distributed.

"This means that there are still 85 percent that have not been received by the community. Then for BST (cash social assistance) this is also more or less, from the information I received only about 25 percent has been received by the public. So there are still 75 percent that have not been received," he concluded.