“The assistance will be provided for one year, from January to December. However, the disbursement will be carried out in two phases. Currently, the first disbursement phase is still going on,” head of the Yogyakarta City Manpower and Transmigration Social Office, Maryustion Tonang, said here on Monday.
In the first phase of disbursement, each adult aged 60 years and over will receive Rp1.08 million in assistance, which will be given non-cash or through a bank account, he informed. The second disbursement phase will be carried out after the verification process for the first assistance phase has been completed, he added.
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According to Tonang, the assistance funds will only target poor older adults. To be eligible, neither the recipients nor their family members named in the same family card must be registered to receive other social assistance from the state or regional budgets, he said.
In addition, beneficiaries must also not be administrators or covered by the Family Hope Program and must not be administrators of the Food Social Assistance Program, he added.
Tonang informed that his office has also prepared companions for older adults registered as recipients to help them disburse the fund.
Meanwhile, Yogyakarta Deputy Mayor Heroe Poerwadi said that older adults who are not registered as assistance beneficiaries will still receive several facilities from the Yogyakarta city government, such as access to health and social activities.
In fact, older adults in the city of Yogyakarta are still involved in community activities to remain empowered, for example, by serving as kindergarten teachers and sharing their life experiences with students, Poerwadi added.
"We are trying to make Yogyakarta an age-friendly city," the deputy mayor remarked.
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Translator: Eka Arifia, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
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