[FREE REPORT]

SOCIAL ASSISTANCE FUND CORRUPTION SCANDAL OF 17 BILLION BY INDONESIA'S SOCIAL MINISTER

Reported by: Amama Ira Amalia Priyono

The Indonesian government provides social assistance to affected communities in the form of compensation and basic foodstuffs to people in need. This assistance is a form of support from the government so that the community can survive during the Covid-19 constraints and the state of Indonesia which is officially entering an economic recession. The assistance is given every month to residents in need. In the management and distribution efforts carried out by the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs, Mr. Juliari Batubara. This social minister received a good response from the public before his case was revealed.

It is reported that he embezzled around ten thousand funds from each aid issued by the government, which to date has a total of 17 billion. The wealth that he owns is of fantastic value, which raises public suspicion that this corrupt practice has been detected by the KPK. This has made public trust in the ministry even less, considering that some time ago there was also a criminal act of corruption in the export of lobster seeds that had been revealed.

The public did not think that the funds that should have been spent on needy people affected by Covid-19 would have been corrupted and went into the pockets of the social minister himself who previously promoted anti-corruption measures. Many negative responses in the form of satire or firm tweets have been encountered on social media which illustrates how disappointed the community is with this incident.

With the consecutive cases of corruption in Indonesia, this is a fact that proves when the oaths and promises of high-ranking officials at the time of handover can be easily forgotten when there is an opportunity to get as much funds as possible. This news is also a highlight in the international media which places Indonesia on a bad image of officials who commit corruption.