Lack of Budget, BPKD Reluctant to Disburse KJP Fund

The disbursement process of Jakarta Smart Card (KJP) fund for thousands of hundreds of students in the city is confirmed will be late due to there is still confusion on the amount of beneficiaries which assessed exceeds the budget. Therefore, Jakarta Financial Management Board (BPKD) insists on asking Jakarta Education Department to resolve that matter first.

I can disburse the fund in just two hours if the data matched. I want Education Department to immediately improve the data and adjust it to the budget available

For information, the budget needed for 575,670 KJP beneficiary students for a year is Rp 1.3 trillion, while the allocated fund in the 2014 City Budget (APBD) is only Rp 700 billion. That amount of fund is considered only enough to meet KJP’s budget for six months.

Head of Jakarta BPKD, Endang Widjajanti, stressed that her party will disburse KJP fund right away after the KJP beneficiaries data is in line with the budget available. “I can disburse the fund in just two hours if the data matched. I want Education Department to immediately improve the data and adjust it to the budget available,” she stated, Friday (7/18).

City Develops Data Online as KJP Duplication

Responding that, Head of Jakarta Education Department, Lasro Marbun, asked BPKD to immediately disburse KJP fund. “Just disburse it according to the budget available. If it was short, we’ll think of something. It is social aid anyway. If there was no budget, don’t give it,” he said.

Marbun admitted that indeed KJP fund this year is not enough. For 612,000 students, his department proposed budget as much as Rp 1.3 trillion. However, the budget available for KJP is only Rp 700 billion. For that, Jakarta Education Department has verified the newest data of KJP beneficiaries and handed it over to BPKD. From 612,000 KJP proposals, only 576,670 students passed. That means 36,330 candidate KJP beneficiaries do not pass data verification.

The amount of KJP fund given to elementary school (SD) students is Rp 180,000 per student per month, junior high school (SMP) Rp 210,000 per student per month, and senior high school (SMA)/vocational school (SMK) Rp 240,000 per student per month. In total KJP beneficiaries consist of 386,301 SD students, 132,801 SMP students, and 92,405 SMA/SMK students. It is scheduled that next year KJP fund disbursement to be done every month.