One of the main purposes of the Jakarta Smart Card (KJP) program to disburse education funds to low-income parents, who could use the card to pay for everything from their children’s school fees to books and supplies.
Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama is a big proponent of the program, but he recently asked Bank DKI, which runs the technical and financial aspects of KJP, to only allow parents to use Rp 50,000 in education funds per week after he said he found numerous instances of misuse by parents.
Today, Bank DKI confirmed that their records showed that Jakarta Smart Cards had been misused to pay for things that definitely weren’t related to education, including karaoke sessions.
The director of Bank DKI, Kresno Sediarsi, said it was already working on Ahok’s request to limit the amount of KJP funds available for non-cash transactions but that restricting which venues it could be used at would be more difficult.
“We have already restricted non-cash transactions to Rp 50,000 per week, in accordance with the student’s school level. But we can not control if it is used to pay for karaoke,” he told Kompas today.
Bank DKI’s records show that KJP funds were also used to pay for less frivolous items that are nonetheless unrelated to education, including gas, food and electronics.
