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Jakarta's underprivileged disabled get social assistance funds
This year, the city administration allocated Rp 25 billion for 7,137 recipients out of a total 14,459.
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Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan symbolically hands over a Jakarta Disability Card at the Matraman Sports Center, East Jakarta on Wednesday. (wartakota.tribunnews.com/Fitriyandi Al Fajri)
E
xpenses incurred by families looking after their children with disabilities can sometimes become overwhelming as medical or other special treatments are often required.
East Jakarta resident Karmilah, 37, expressed that she was overwhelmed by the amount of money her family had to spend for her 18-year-old son Muhammad Syarifudin, who uses a wheelchair and has scoliosis, to go to school for people with disabilities that is located more than 10 kilometers away from her house.
“My son can only ride in a car. I could spend up to Rp 3 million (US$210) a month just for transportation. Not to mention diapers and vitamins,” she told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
As a stay-at-home wife whose husband works as a laborer, Karmilah said it was tough to make ends meet. Therefore, she was grateful when finding out the Jakarta administration would provide social assistance funds to her son through a disability card program.
The city administration launched the Jakarta Disability Card in the Matraman Sports Center in East Jakarta on Wednesday, aiming to help underprivileged disabled people fulfil their basic needs.
With the card, issued by city-owned lender Bank DKI, the recipient would get Rp 300,000 a month deposited in their bank account, with a total of Rp 3.6 million disbursed a year.
The city administration has disbursed the fund to 7,137 recipients this year.
