Money Eaten By Termites Case In Solo Is A Lesson On The Importance Of Saving In The Bank

BI Solo officers checked Samin's damaged money due to being eaten by termites, Tuesday, September 13. (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Secretary of the Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS) Dimas Yuliharto said that the case of money eaten by termites that happened to Samin, a school keeper in Solo, Central Java, could be a lesson for the community.

He asked people to keep their money in the bank. The reason is, keeping money at home is very risky, it can be damaged or even stolen.

"Saving in a bank is safer because it is guaranteed by LPS, rather than risking it being lost or damaged due to various reasons, it is better to save it in a bank," he said in a statement to the media, Thursday, September 15.

Dimas added that his party guarantees a maximum value of customer deposits of IDR 2 billion.

"So if the bank goes bankrupt or closes, LPS will guarantee savings per customer and per bank," Dimas added.

However, he said, if people want their savings to be guaranteed, they are obliged to comply with the LPS guarantee requirements, namely, recorded in the bank's books, the interest rate on deposits received does not exceed the LPS guarantee interest rate, does not cause the bank to fail, for example having bad credit.

Previously, it was reported that Samin, a school custodian at SDN Lojiwetan Solo, brought the IDR 100,000 and IDR 50,000 notes that were damaged by termites to the Solo Bank Indonesia Representative Office (KPwBI), on Tuesday, September 13, 2022.

The total amount of money that has been damaged by termites is almost IDR 50 million.

The paper money that Samin keeps in a plastic piggy bank will be used to perform the pilgrimage.

Samin's arrival to the KPw BI Solo with the intention of exchanging his money paid off. Bank Indonesia (BI) replaced some of Samin's money.

"Tuesday afternoon (13/9) we saw the form of money that was eaten by termites. It was discovered on Tuesday morning, then it went viral, so that it is clearer as to what kind of result we have identified the rest of the paper money that was eaten by termites," said the Head of BI at the Surakarta Representative Office. Nugroho Joko Prastowo was quoted from Antara, Thursday.

He said, from the identification of the remaining banknotes in the first stage that met the requirements to be exchanged to BI, the amount was IDR 9,910,000.

"Furthermore, last Wednesday we tried to reconstruct it again. Thank God we were able to produce and meet the requirements, namely 2/3 of the total amount of money as much as IDR 10,310,000. Thus, the legal total can be replaced by IDR 20,220,000. This is the optimal amount that BI can help," he said.

The rest, for small pieces, he said, could no longer be reconstructed.

Regarding the incident, he hopes to be a lesson for all people to save their savings in a safer place, namely the bank.

"It is safer, it can be used for non-cash transactions, earn interest or profit sharing. It can be in the piggy bank first but every month it is deposited (to the bank). If this is two years it will be too late to be identified," he said.

Samin said he was grateful because BI had been helped to identify the money.

"Helped to sort out the pieces of my money, and this was finally able to be exchanged for the maximum," he said.

On that occasion, he also invited all parties to love, be proud, and understand the rupiah, one of which is by taking better care of it.

"Don't save on the can. This is the result of my two years of saving, the kids (students) get IDR 5,000-10,000 and I put it straight into a piggy bank," he said.

In addition, his savings also come from the results of his wife who sells in the school canteen.

The plan, the savings will be used to perform the pilgrimage with his wife and two children.

The money in the piggy bank which was damaged by termites is estimated at around IDR 50 million.

Meanwhile, the money stored in another piggy bank is IDR 49.8 million in a safe condition.