Commission VIII Asks the Government to Supervise the RTLH Assistance Program
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BONSERNEWS.com – DPR Commission VIII member Selly Andriany Gantina asked the government to improve the monitoring system related to the implementation of the budget in the Uninhabitable Houses (RTLH) assistance program for poor people. This follows the abuse committed by unscrupulous village officials.
“Funds for the uninhabitable housing program are intended to help improve the welfare of the less fortunate, so they must be right on target. The misuse of program funds has caused unrest,” said Selly, Wednesday, July 19, 2023.
RLTH fund assistance is a stimulant assistance in the form of money to purchase building materials for the restoration of uninhabitable houses from the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) to individuals, families, groups or communities, especially for the poor. The funding assistance is channeled through the Regional Government (Pemda).
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As for the provision of assistance, it is given according to the criteria of residents whose homes do not meet the requirements for building safety, minimum adequacy of building area, and occupant health
Even though it is a program of the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, the social assistance for house renovations for underprivileged residents must be based on the DTKS (Integrated Data on Social Welfare) belonging to the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos).
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Selly said, this needs to be done so that there is no overlap in the provision of assistance. Moreover, the Ministry of Social Affairs also has a similar program, namely the Integrated Welfare Home Social Assistance (RST) which is a continuation of the previous program in the form of Social Rehabilitation of Uninhabitable Houses (Rutilahu Hospital).
“The agreement is that both PUPR and any ministry or agency that has a house renovation program for the poor must be based on the DTKS owned by the Ministry of Social Affairs so that there are no overlaps,” said Selly.
“Then the reference for development must be the same as the RST from the Ministry of Social Affairs so that there are no differences. So far, PUPR has been tendered so that it is vulnerable to misuse by unscrupulous regional apparatuses, meanwhile if the program is from the Ministry of Social Affairs the money goes directly to the recipient’s account,” he continued.
In the RLTH program, the Village Head (Kades) is usually assigned by the Regional Government to participate in monitoring, starting from the disbursement of funds to the implementation of the rehabilitation of houses of residents who receive assistance. However, lately there have been many embezzlement of RLTH social assistance funds for the community by unscrupulous village heads.
Cases of corruption in the uninhabitable housing assistance program, among others, occurred in Bekasi, where an unscrupulous village head was arrested for misappropriating Rp. 235 million in funds. A similar case occurred in 2021 in Bogor, West Java, which resulted in a village head being detained for Rp. 110 million in corruption.
Reflecting on several cases of misappropriation of aid funds, Selly reminded that people who are entitled to receive RLTH program assistance are residents who are in the poor category. Therefore, Selly asked the RLTH social assistance to refer to the Ministry of Social DTKS.
“Don’t take away the rights of the common people, especially those in need. The RLTH program aims to help eradicate extreme poverty which is the realm of the Ministry of Social Affairs. So it is necessary to involve the Ministry of Social Affairs so that the distribution is appropriate,” said Selly.
