President Jokowi: Village Fund Pivotal in Developing Rural Infrastructure

President Jokowi delivers his remarks during the National Coordination Meeting for Village Administration at Ecovention Ocean Ecopark, Jakarta, Wednesday (20/2). Photo by: Deny S/PR.

The Indonesian Government in the last four years has built 191,000-kilometer village roads financed by Village Fund, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has said.

“Indonesia has 74,900 villages. It means that the Government has built 600-meter road per village,” President Jokowi said in his remarks during the National Coordination Meeting for Village Administration at Ecovention Ocean Ecopark, Jakarta, Wednesday (20/2).

The President added that Village Fund has also resulted in 24,000 integrated health services (Posyandu), early childhood education centers, 8.900 village markets, 58,000 irrigation units and 1.1 million meters of bridges. The Government, according to him, will shift the focus to village economy empowerment after completing infrastructure projects.

On that occasion, President Jokowi stated that the Government has disbursed Rp187 trillion for Village Fund program in four years: Rp20.7 trillion in 2015, Rp47 trillion in 2016, Rp60 trillion in 2017 and Rp60 trillion in 2018.

“The Village Fund allocation is the largest one in our history,” President Jokowi said, adding that the Government also provides Rp70 trillion Village Fund in 2019.

The President added that he wanted the Village Fund to circulate only in villages to improve welfare of the locals. For this reason, the President advised the people to only use materials and commodities in the villages in every infrastructure project. He cited an example of building bridges by using local materials and employing workforce from the respective villages or neighboring villages as the most possible option.

Also present during the event were Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Puan Maharani, Minister of Home Affairs Tjahjo Kumolo, Minister of State Secretary Pratikno, Minister of Village, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Eko Putro Sandjojo, and Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati. (RSF/DNS/ES)

Translated by: Ridwan Ibadurrohman
Edited by: Mia Medyana