Village Minister: No Reduction in Village Fund Budget
Minister of Villages, Development of Underdeveloped Regions, and Transmigration Eko Sandjojo answers questions from the journalists after Limited Cabinet Meeting on Budgeting of Village Fund and Urban Village Fund, at the Bogor Palace, West Java, Friday (2/11). Photo by: Agung/PR.
Minister of Villages, Development of Underdeveloped Regions, and Transmigration Eko Sandjojo said that allocation of urban village fund (dana kelurahan) will not reduce allocation of village fund (dana desa) in the 2019 State Budget.
The Minister explained that the allocation for village fund in the 2019 State Budget reaches Rp70 trillion, Rp10 trillion higher compared to that of 2018, while the allocation for urban village fund is Rp3 trillion.
“The Village Fund is rising, not declining,” Eko Sandjojo told reporters after Limited Cabinet Meeting on Budgeting of Village Fund and Urban Village Fund, at the Bogor Palace, West Java, Friday (2/11).
Eko further stated that the urban village will be distributed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, not by the Ministry of Villages, Development of Underdeveloped Regions, and Transmigration.
The Minister went on to say that in its early years, the Village Fund was allocated to boost infrastructure projects in rural areas. Starting in 2019, the budget will be allocated for community and economic empowerment.
“We work with the World Bank to provide assistance through the village innovation program to generate the innovation in villages and make sure that the village fund will be used for community and economic empowerment,” Eko explained.
As of today, the Minister continued, there have been 30,000 innovations that can be shared with other villages. Every village is free in creating the innovation; the Central Government only provides the guidelines.
The Minister further said that the Central Government provides the rules and guidelines to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the village fund.
Translated by: Ridwan Ibadurrohman
Edited by: Yuyu Mulyani
