Selasa, 28 Oktober 2014

NEW GOVT TO REGULATE SOCIAL ASSISTANCE FUNDS

By Andi Abdussalam
          Jakarta, Oct 28 (Antara) - In order to better regulate its social assistance funds (Bansos), the new government will bring these under a single roof, a change from the existing system of different ministries and government institutions handling these.
         The Bansos, which amounts to some Rp91.8 trillion this year, has been managed by and distributed among at least 15 ministries and government institutions. This made the funds susceptible to being misused and difficult to control.
         Fearing that the funds could be misused or used to deal in corrupt practices, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) recently suggested that the Bansos be managed by a government agency under a single roof, namely the Ministry of Social Affairs.
         "If their distribution and use are not monitored, the funds could be misappropriated," Bambang Widjojanto of the anti-corruption body said in a coordination meeting on the improvement of people's welfare in Palembang, South Sumatra, on October 14.

 
          He cited the example of the use of a regional budget grant in 2013, wherein recipients have yet to file reports to account for the funds. " Funds remain unaccounted for due to this (mismanagement)," Widjojanto remarked.
         Earlier, the KPK had written to the then president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, regarding the use of the social aid funds. "We need to announce that the KPK had sent a letter to the (then) president on the management of the social aid funds," KPK spokesman, Johan Budi, noted in his office recently.
         Budi explained that one of the points covered in the letter asked the president to issue a directive on the handling of the funds.
         "So far, the Bansos have been managed separately by various ministries. After conducting an assessment, we sent a letter to the (then) president suggesting that the management of the assistance funds be carried out only by the Ministry of Social Affairs. Other ministries should not manage social aid funds," the KPK spokesman reiterated.
         The KPK had recommended that the funds be managed by only one institution, i. e. the Ministry of Social Affairs, in the interest of social assistance. The use of the funds should be regulated through an elaborate system and be implemented based on prudent principles.
         Moreover, the newly-installed Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, better known as Jokowi, has provided directives to the new Social Affairs Minister, Khofifah Indar Parawansa, in which he suggested that the funds be managed and disbursed under a single roof.
         "The president has provided us with directives and suggested that the Bansos be channeled under a single roof. However, he has yet to decide which ministry should carry out the program," Parawansa noted on Tuesday.
         She made these remarks during the ceremony where the social affairs ministerial post was handed over to her by the outgoing minister, Salim Segaf Al Jufri, on Tuesday.
         The newly-appointed minister added that a meeting with the Coordinating Minister for Human and Cultural Development, Puan Maharani, would be held on Wednesday to discuss the matter.
         Based on the president's directives, the Bansos should not be handled by many ministries/state institutions but by one institution to make the funds easy to supervise, she added.
          Parawansa affirmed the readiness of the social affairs ministry to manage the funds as its services had been integrated.
          "The ministry of social affairs has different director generals for social rehabilitation, social empowerment and poverty eradication, and social protection and security insurance," she explained.
          The funds will, however, be managed based on the fields they are allocated to. If the Bansos is focused on sectors such as health and education, the ministry of social affairs can take on the task as it already deals in the affairs of the fields, the minister noted.
         Furthermore, former social affairs minister, Segaf Al Jufri, recently confirmed that the ministry, if trusted, was ready to handle the single management system of the assistance funds, which have been separately managed by 15 ministries and institutions so far.
         "We are ready to regulate the funds. I think this will be a better system. Programs requiring them (the funds) could be paid more attention to," the former minister emphasized.
         Based on data from the Ministry of Finance, 15 ministries and agencies managed social assistance funds amounting to Rp91.8 trillion from the 2014 state budget.
         These ministries and agencies are the Home Affairs Ministry (Rp9.4 trillion), Agriculture Ministry (Rp5.3 trillion), Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry (Rp49 billion), Education and Culture Ministry (Rp28.3 trillion), Health Ministry (Rp19.9 trillion), Religious Affairs Ministry (Rp12.6 trillion), Manpower and Transmigration Ministry (Rp32.6 billion), Social Affairs Ministry (Rp5.3 trillion), Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry (611.4 billion), Public Housing Ministry (Rp1.7 trillion), Public Works Ministry (Rp3.9 trillion), Cooperatives and Small-Scale Enterprises Ministry (Rp285 billion), Less Advantage Region Ministry (Rp766.5 billion), National Disasters Mitigation Agency/BNPB (Rp50 billion) and the Sidoarjo Mudflow Handling Agency/BPLS (Rp4.7 billion).
         Besides these, disaster reserve funds amounted to Rp3 trillion of the state budget.
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(T.A014/INE)
EDITED BY INE

(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 28-10-2014 22:35:5

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