TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo decided to provide social aid for poor households in Jakarta Greater Area or Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi). The assistance will be distributed in the form of staple foods due to the coronavirus crisis.

“The president will hand out social aid for Jabodetabek areas, a package of staple foods worth Rp600,000 per family,” said Social Minister Juliari Batubara via a teleconference on Tuesday, April 7.

The assistance will be given to families listed in the Social Ministry’s data and those suggested by regional administrations for the next three months starting April, he added.

“We have obtained recommendation data from the Jakarta administration yesterday,” Juliari said, adding that the distribution will be commenced in the next two weeks. The regions are chosen given their adjacent locations to the capital, which is the hardest hit by the outbreak.

Jokowi previously asserted that several social safety net programs set by the government in an effort to maintain the people’s purchasing power in the midst of the COVID-19 emergency response must be carried out effectively on target.

"Because these programs are necessary for the people, I want to underline that the implementation must be truly on target," the state head remarked.

EGI ADYATAMA