Bandung, West Java (ANTARA) - The distribution of the 2022 Wage Subsidy Assistance (BSU) has reached 77 percent of the total 2.1 million recipients in West Java, the province’s Manpower and Transmigration Office has informed.

Each recipient has been provided a sum of 600 thousand as a one-time transfer, head of the office, Taufik Garsadi, said during the "West Java Has Information (Japri) Vol 105” event here on Tuesday.

The BSU Program aims to support workers' purchasing power as well as aid the country's economic recovery amid the pandemic. The subsidy is being provided to workers earning less than Rp3.5 million per month.

The distribution of BSU in West Java should have been completed by October 2022, but there have been several issues that the government has encountered, he informed.

One of the issues is related to recipient data verification, which needs to be integrated with data from the Manpower Ministry, Workers Social Security Agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan), and the office.

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The verification itself is being undertaken by the ministry while the potential BSU recipient data that has to be verified is coming from the BPJS Ketenagakerjaan, he explained.

The recipient data need to be matched with the data on other aid recipients, such as the Family Hope Program (PKH), which is taking a long time, he added.

The second issue involves the regulation requiring BSU recipients to have an account with Himbara (Association of State-Owned Banks) banks.

Meanwhile, head of the West Java Industry and Trade Office, Iendra Sofyan, said that his office and the West Java Manpower and Transmigration Office have been discussing the impact of the subsidized fuel oil price adjustment on workers.

"What we worry about is the fate of workers with wage below Rp3.5 million," he added.

He highlighted the high possibility of workers earning less than Rp3.5 million organizing a demonstration to reject the adjustment, though his office is hoping that the situation can be mitigated.

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Translator: Ajat Sudrajat, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Suharto
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