"According to our data, 946 children are without a father, mother, or both during this pandemic period," Head of Social Rehabilitation of the Bekasi Social Affairs Office Epih Hanafi stated on Thursday.
Hanafi noted that the data was collected following the Social Affairs Ministry's instruction, dated August 9, 2021, to accrue data on children, who lost their parents due to the pandemic.
"This data has been verified. We involve the sub-district social affairs staff, public social workers, and monitoring staff. Hopefully, this is the most valid data," he stressed.
The data was collected from a total of 12 sub-districts in Bekasi City, he stated. The area with the highest count was Medan Satria Sub-district, with 225 kids having lost their parents.
This figure was followed by 120 children from Pondok Gede Sub-district, 112 from East Bekasi, 98 from Mustika Jaya, 64 from South Bekasi, 63 from West Bekasi, and 53 each from the sub-districts of Rawalumbu and Jatiasih.
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Moreover, 52 children from Pondok Melati Sub-district, 39 from North Bekasi, 36 from Jatisampurna, and 31 from Bantar Gebang Sub-district lost their parents to COVID-19.
Hanafi informed that the data was immediately forwarded to the Social Affairs Ministry for securing allocation of the central government’s assistance. The local government, through the Bekasi Social Affairs Office, has also allocated a budget, sourced from the 2022 regional budget, for assisting children.
Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi clarified that the local government had no plans to provide assistance for children, who had lost their parents this year, as they were still awaiting assistance from the Social Affairs Ministry.
"Once the Social Affairs Ministry’s assistance is offered, we will process the data first, so that there is no (one receiving) double assistance. Do not allow the provision to come from both the Social Affairs Ministry and us, especially at the same time. We have allocated next year's budget," he emphasized.
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Translator: Pradita K S, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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