JAKARTA – The government’s promise to disburse the first phase of village funds in the second week of April, 2015 has not been fully realized. Data from the Ministry of Finance shows, as of April 20, 2015, only 36 out of 434 regencies/cities throughout Indonesia have met the requirements for receiving village funds, or only around 8.2%. This data is certainly contrary to the words of the Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration (PDTT) Marwan Jafar who stated that 80% of villages have met the requirements for receiving village funds.
Executive Director of the Regional Research and Information Center (PATTIRO), Sad Dian Utomo said that the delay in disbursing village funds occurred one of them because there were still many villages that did not have a Village Budget (APBDesa), which is the main requirement for distributing village funds from the district / city government to the village government. “The unpreparedness of the village indicates the suboptimal role of the central government, provincial government, and district/city government in conducting guidance and supervision of governance in the village. Including assistance and guidance to village governments in preparing the APBDesa,” explained Sad Dian in a press statement in Jakarta, Tuesday, April 21, 2015.
Sad Dian added that the delay in the flow of village funds from the central government to the district/city government will certainly affect the process of disbursing funds from the district/city government to the village government which will lead to hampering the implementation of development plans that have been prepared by the village government. In addition, it is feared that the delay in the disbursement of village funds in the first phase will affect the process of disbursing village funds in the next stages.
Therefore, Sad Dian emphasized that both the central government and the district/city government should be able to anticipate the needs of village governments in preparing various documents needed to meet the requirements for receiving village funds, including the regional budget. Because long before the Village Law was passed, Government Regulation No. 72 of 2005 on villages had mandated the central government and district/city governments to conduct guidance for village governments.
However, Sad Dian said, coaching for village governments is not limited to coaching in administrative aspects such as the preparation of Village Medium Term Development Plans (RPJM Desa), Village Government Work Plans (RKP Desa), and Village APB. The central government and district/city governments are also obliged to provide guidance and assistance to aspects of institutional readiness in villages, both village government institutions, strategic social institutions such as Posyandu, youth organizations, PKK, farmer organizations and community centers, as well as economic institutions such as community cooperatives. and Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDesa). The readiness and independence of the three village institutions is a mandate that must be carried out by the government because it has been set as a performance target for 2,000 independent villages in the National RPJM. “Village independence is indeed an effort that must be fought for by the village itself, but the government and district/city governments have promised to help achieve it and become the government’s own performance target,” concluded Sad Dian.
