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Palace explains Risma’s absence from recent ‘bansos’ distribution
President Jokowi's special aide coordinator, Ari Dwipayana, said Social Affairs Minister Tri Rismaharani was absent from recent bansos distribution events because only the relevant institutions were involved.
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo (right) talks with local residents in Pekalongan, Central Java, during his working visit to check on the state-owned public food company Bulog warehouse in the vicinity on Dec. 13, 2023. During the visit, the President symbolically disbursed 10,000 kilograms of rice to 1,000 families. (Antara/Harviyan Perdana Putra)
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resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's special aide coordinator, Ari Dwipayana, has revealed the reason behind the absence of Social Affairs Minister Tri “Risma” Rismaharani from the President’s recent social assistance (bansos) disbursement events.
According to Ari, the ministries and institutions involved in the disbursement campaign are those with direct responsibilities for and ties to the social assistance program.
"[The institutions] related to food reserves are Bulog [state-owned public food company] and Bapanas [National Food Agency]," said Ari on Monday, as quoted by cnnindonesia.com.
“So, we focus on that matter, including checking the food reserve status in all regions and involving [institutions] related to food security.”
Ari deflected rumors that Risma's absence from the program was due to her status as an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) member.
The government is intensifying the social assistance disbursement program ahead of the 2024 general election to amplify the program's effectiveness in anticipation of ongoing natural phenomena, such as El Niño.
"The impact [of El Niño] creates the difficulty in securing staple food packages, particularly rice, because the weather makes it hard [to grow rice]," said Ari, as quoted by viva.co.id news portal.
