Jakarta – The Regional Information Research Center (PATTIRO) is concerned about the possibility of irregularities which could actually ensnare village officials, if in practice they are not given guidance and direction, as well as guidance and assistance by the central government and district/city governments considering that we are entering the 3rd week of February. , around 74,000 villages in Indonesia are starting to prepare to receive the first term of village fund disbursement in April 2015.
Please note that village funds can only be disbursed when the village has submitted the Village Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APB) to the Regency Government as a verification tool. Meanwhile, according to Law no. 6/2014 concerning Villages clearly states that the RPJMDes (Village Medium Term Development Plan) and RKPDes (Village Development Work Plan) are the basis for preparing the Village APB. The flow of village fund allocation is regulated in PP no. 60/2014 concerning Village Funds Sourced from the APBN states that the Ministry of Finance will channel these funds through Regencies/Cities by issuing Ministerial Regulations (Permen). The village fund formula for each district/city is the number of villages multiplied by the average village fund per province. Then the Regent/Mayor will issue a Regent/Mayor Regulation (Perbup/Perwal) when disbursing the funds before they are distributed to each village.
According to Presidential Decree no. 11 of 2015 concerning the Ministry of Home Affairs, village financial and asset management matters are under the Ministry of Home Affairs and the regulations have been issued through the Regulation of the Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia (Permendagri) No. 113 of 2014 concerning village financial management.
PATTIRO Executive Director, Sad Dian Utomo emphasized that in order to avoid misuse of village funds, the Regency/City Government is obliged to carry out guidance and supervision of each village as stated in articles 112-115 of Law no. 6/2014 concerning Villages. Examples of possible misuse include the tendency to speed up the disbursement of village funds by shortcuts, or by preparing the Village APB which is not participatory, transparent and accountable, as well as the possibility of using funds that are not in proportion or intended use.
According to Sad Dian, these regulations must be accompanied by intensive and thorough supervision from the community who are aware and understand the rules of the game and the accountability of village funds. The community as part of the development of institutional systems and social capital in the village must also develop, including in carrying out supervision. Village independence is a must in this era of implementing the Village Law. In this case, PATTIRO has had more than a decade of experience in forming and strengthening citizen groups or what are known as community centers to supervise government management. Therefore, PATTIRO believes that building a community supervision system will have an impact on the implementation of village funds that are transparent, participatory and accountable. Apart from that, it can also create a village government that is trusted by the community, but does not result in arbitrariness by village officials/village heads as happened previously.
The hope is that village fund budget management can be carried out well and irregularities can be avoided if all parties, including the central, district and village governments, village communities and civil society organizations work together effectively to develop villages in a transparent and accountable manner.
