TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Jokowi orders Risma to speed up aid disbursement
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has ordered Risma to oversee the distribution of the government’s social aid programs and he wanted her to do it fast — as soon as the first week of January.
Change Size
Newly inaugurated Social Affairs Minister Tri “Risma” Rismaharini (center) waves while Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy (left) looks on during a handover ceremony at the Social Affairs Ministry in Jakarta on Wednesday. Risma, known for her punctiliousness, has replaced Juliari Batubara, who was arrested in a corruption case related to COVID-19 social aid.
(JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
N
ewly installed Social Affairs Minister Tri "Risma" Rismaharini, the popular former Surabaya mayor, has the major task of restoring the credibility of a ministry that was recently mired with corruption.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has ordered Risma to oversee the distribution of the government’s social aid programs and he wanted her to do it fast — as soon as the first week of January.
Both Risma and Jokowi are politicians with the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the same party to which graft suspect former social affairs minister Juliari Batubara belonged. Juliari stands accused of embezzling social aid funds during the pandemic.
In a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Jokowi emphasized that the speedy disbursement of aid was vital to maintain people’s purchasing power amid the virus-induced economic slowdown.
“Don’t let [social aid disbursement] be delayed. It should begin in January because it relates to the people’s purchasing power and household spending, which we want to boost to increase demand,” Jokowi said at the State Palace.
He said the staple food aid package for Greater Jakarta would be converted into cash transfers instead, which will be disbursed through state-owned postal service PT Pos Indonesia or via wire transfers through accounts of state-owned banks.
Jokowi also explicitly called on his ministers to disburse the aid to recipients as it was originally budgeted.
