TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Deputy Governor Riza Patria claimed the data error in the recipient of the city's social assistance program happened because the government was rushing to distribute it.

The Jakarta Provincial Government, Riza continued, wanted to come to the aid of those who need it by distributing social assistance as quickly as possible.

“It was a human error, as the condition yesterday made us rush. We had the best of intentions in wanting to distribute food staple assistance to those who need it. However, we may have not verified the (recipients) on the field,” said Riza, when contacted by Tempo, on Friday, May 1, 2020.

According to Riza, the Jakarta Provincial Government had collected data prior to the distribution of social assistance. The data was then submitted to the neighborhood unit (RT) and neighborhood association (RW) officers for verification.

The data will then be used as a reference on the amount of social assistance allocated to Jakarta residents affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in a certain area.

“Maybe because of a number of things, there are neighborhood unit chiefs who did not have the chance to or did not meet the person. Without any verification, the data was sent back up (to the government). So when the food assistance is distributed, then we found the invalid data,” explained Riza.

He emphasized that no Jakarta residents were harmed as a result of the maldistribution of social assistance, as all the food staple packages that were distributed incorrectly had all been returned back to the government.

In spite of this, Riza also asked for Jakarta residents who should not have received food staple packages, to return it back to the government.

The Jakarta Provincial Government has been distributing social assistance since April 9, a day before the enactment of the Large Scale Social Restriction (PSBB) period in the capital.

The social assistance packages were intended by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan to assist poor and poverty prone families affected by the pandemic.

In reality, as opposed to being distributed to the poor, a number of affluent individuals and politicians, including Jakarta House of Representatives' Commission E Secretary Johnny Simanjuntak, were also included in the recipient list of the social assistance program.

The Jakarta Provincial Government is currently correcting the data of recipients.

LANI DIANA WIJAYA | Translator: DIO SUHENDA (Intern)