Anies' Subordinates Bring Bad News, The Distribution Of Cash Assistance Has Been Stopped For Now

Illustration (Photo: Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - Head of the DKI Social Service Office, Premi Lasari, confirmed that his party would not continue distributing the seventh phase of cash social assistance (BST) in Jakarta at this time.

This subordinate of the Governor of DKI Anies Baswedan said that the distribution of BST must be carried out in conjunction with the central government, in this case, the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Based on the information received, the Minister of Social Affairs Tri Rismaharini did not continue the BST social assistance. Subsequent social assistance budget submissions are only for the Family Hope Program (PKH) and Non-Cash Food Assistance (BPNT).

"The Minister of Social Affairs said only PKH and BPNT social assistance. The ministry's COVID-19 BST no longer exists. So, we follow the central government's policy", said Premi at DKI City Hall, Central Jakarta, Thursday, September 23.

Previously, the Ministry of Social Affairs continued social assistance for communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with a budget of IDR 78.25 trillion in 2022. This budget has been approved by the DPR.

Minister of Social Affairs, Tri Rismaharini, said that the continued social assistance was regular social assistance. The regular social assistance programs are the Family Hope Program (PKH) and Non-Cash Food Assistance (BPNT)/Basic Food Cards.

"PKH and BPNT continue to run, whether there is a pandemic or not because they are for handling poverty and improving the quality of human resources", said Risma.

Meanwhile, special social assistance is designed for emergencies, not for permanent purposes. BST was launched by the government about the policy for the Implementation of Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM) in line with the high rate of transmission of the Coronavirus at that time.

Activity restrictions have an impact on decreasing economic activity and reducing people's income. "Therefore, the government needs to assist affected residents. In line with the decline in the number of virus transmissions, the government also loosens up activities, the economy moves and people can return to being productive", said Risma.

For information, there are 1,844,833 beneficiary families (KPM) who received BST in Jakarta. The DKI Provincial Government distributed BST to 1,007,379 recipients through Bank DKI ATMs. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Social Affairs distributed BST to 837,000 PT Pos Indonesia recipients

The last BST distributed was the fifth and sixth stages of IDR 300 thousand per month in the period of May and June. This two-stage BST delivery was carried out at once so that residents immediately received IDR 600 thousand.