946 Children In Bekasi Lost Their Parents Due To COVID-19

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BEKASI - The Bekasi City Government, West Java noted, 946 children in the area lost their parents to become orphans, orphans, or orphans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Based on our data collection, there are 946 children who have become orphans, orphans, or orphans because their parents died during this pandemic period", said Head of Social Rehabilitation at the Bekasi City Social Service, Epih Hanafi, as reported by Antara, Thursday, August 26.

He said the data collection was carried out following a letter from the Ministry of Social Affairs dated August 9, 2021, containing instructions for collecting data on children who have lost their parents due to the pandemic.

"This data has been verified in the field. We involve sub-district social workers, community social workers, and monitoring officers. Hopefully, this is the most valid data", he said.

The data, he said, was collected from a total of 12 sub-districts in the Bekasi City area. Medan Satria sub-district is the area with the highest number of children who lost their parents, reaching 225 children.

Followed by Pondok Gede Sub-district with 120 children, East Bekasi (112), Mustika Jaya (98), South Bekasi (64), West Bekasi (63), and Rawalumbu and Jatiasih sub-districts each with 53 children.

Then Pondok Melati District with 52 children, North Bekasi (39), Jatisampurna (36), and Bantar Gebang Sub-district which are the areas with the smallest number of children who lost their parents in Bekasi City, namely 31 children.

Epih admitted that the data was immediately sent to the Ministry of Social Affairs to obtain the allocation of central government assistance. The local government through the Bekasi City Social Service also allocates a budget for the assistance of the children sourced from the 2022 Regional Budget (APBD).

Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi said the local government has no plans to provide assistance for children who have lost their parents this year because they are still waiting for assistance from the Ministry of Social Affairs.

"After the assistance from the Ministry of Social Affairs is completed, we will process the data first so that there is no double assistance. Don't let the Ministry of Social get it, we get it, especially at the same time. We have allocated next year's budget", he said.