Govt to disburse third cash assistance Wednesday

The Jakarta Post | Tue, 03/17/2009 8:40 PM  

The government will pay the third phase of direct cash assistance (BLT) amounting to Rp3.766 trillion for 18.832 million poor target families throughout the country on Wednesday, a cabinet minister said. 

"The BLT will be paid simultaneously for the families through the postal service offices in 32 provincial capitals," Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah said in a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday. 

He said that in Denpasar, Bali, however, the BLT would be paid on March 24 because payment on Wednesday would coincide with the local 'Galungan' holiday in the province. 

'Galungan' is a Balinese celebration lasting 10 days and occurring once every 210 days according to the 'wuku' calendar. 

The minister said each of the families would get Rp 200,000 for two months (Rp 100,000 per month) and it was expected that the assistance would help alleviate the people's burden in the face of the impact of the global crisis. 

The assistance that would be provided on Wednesday is the continuation of BLT phase I (three months) and phase II (four months) provided in 2008. 

The BLT program was launched by the government in June last year when fuel oil prices were raised due to the skyrocketing of the world crude price to US$140 per barrel.