IO – Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Abdul Halim Iskandar reports that according to data as of 8 November 2020, his Ministry has distributed IDR 37,504 trillion in allotted Village Funds. “Village Funds is distributed four ways: IDR 3,170 trillion for COVID-19 mitigation, IDR 10,546 trillion to fund Village Work-Intense Cash (Padat Karya Tunai Desa – “PKDT”), IDR 5,295 trillion for miscellaneous infrastructures, and IDR 18,493 trillion to fund Direct Cash Aid (Bantuan Langsung Tunai – “BLT”),” he said during an online press conference held on Wednesday (11/11/2020).
“A total of 74,877 villages, or 99% of 74,953 villages throughout Indonesia, have received Village Funds. 73.178 or 98% of these villages have implemented BLT Village Funds. Alhamdulillah, praised be Allah,” he said earlier in August this year.
The budget set for Village Funds in the 2020 State Budget was IDR 71,190 trillion, signifying there is still IDR 33,685 trillion undisbursed until now. “We will use IDR 9,968 trillion to fund the remaining BLT Village Funds budgeted until December this year. We are consistently holding onto the rest in order to allow IDR 23,716 trillion for funding the PKDT program. It will be distributed in two disbursements: first, PKDT for productive economy, and second, PKDT for productive infrastructure,” Abdul Halim said.
The Minister also mentioned that Village Funds are still frequently implemented throughout third parties, not directly by beneficiaries themselves, “Even in subtle ways. Therefore, we keep on reminding them about this; we keep on harping on it, because this usage of funds by third parties still exists,” he said during a Ministerial Level Meeting held last Thursday (05/11/2020). “However, there are exceptions. Such use of the Village Funds by third parties is allowable if the relevant project is extremely complex, and the implementation must be overseen by the Public Settlement Office at Regency level.” (dan)