G

orontalo Governor Rusli Habibie has introduced a new policy requiring recipients of any government aid to quit smoking, join family planning, send their children to school for 12 compulsory years and donate blood.

Rusli said the four additional requirements, set to become effective next year, would be compulsory and were a breakthrough in promoting people'€™s active participation and in making various development programs a success.

He said to prove particular aid recipients were non-smokers, a letter stating so, issued by government-appointed doctors, would be needed.

'€œI want Gorontalo people to live healthy lifestyles,'€ Rusli said on Monday.

He also said that the policy was part of the enforcement of Bylaw (Perda) No. 10/2014 on smoke-free areas recently approved by the provincial legislative council.

The bylaw bans people from smoking in eight strategic places including schools and other educational institutions, health facilities, public places and workplaces.

Regarding the obligation to join a family-planning program, Rusli said it was required to support the central government'€™s programs of population control, poverty eradication and natural resource preservation.

With regard to the obligation to send children to school for 12 years, he said the program had been in existence since 2012 through the free education program that guarantees every child free education until senior high school.

'€œThe problem of school dropouts now no longer has anything to do with financial factors. It'€™s more because of economically poor parents'€™ lack of care in sending their children to school,'€ Rusli said.

Rusli said that there were currently tens of billions of rupiah in government aid channeled through the state and regional administration budgets. His policy, he said, would help distribute the funds effectively and efficiently.

In the field of health, for example, 280,884 Gorontalo residents had received premiums for the Jamkesta health insurance program funded through the regional budget.

Similarly, in the cooperatives and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector, Rp 12.7 billion had been allocated in the provincial budget and another Rp 14.1 billion in the state budget.

With regard to the requirement for aid recipients to donate their blood, Rusli said that it was required to help increase the critical blood supply, as a result of people'€™s lack of awareness about donating blood.

Separately, Gorontalo City Blood Transfusion Unit director Yana Suleman said that the policy should not be made compulsory as it could be considered as violating human rights.

'€œIt'€™s not because I am against the policy. I just don'€™t want it to violate human rights because donating blood is everybody'€™s right,'€ she said.

Meanwhile, North Gorontalo resident Febriandy Abidin said that the requirements indicated the administration'€™s hidden intentions in providing aid to people.

'€œMore than that, aid is the people'€™s right. It comes from taxpayers'€™ money, so why should there be such requirements?'€ Febriandy said.