Prabowo Claims Forest Assets Rp370 Trillion Are Back in Control, Nearly 10 Percent of the State Budget

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto stated that the Forest Area Control Task Force (PKH) had succeeded in regaining state assets in forest areas with a value of around Rp. 370 trillion. This value, according to Prabowo, is close to 10 percent of the total state budget which is in the range of Rp. 3,700 trillion.

Prabowo made the statement at the handover of the results of state financial rescue and the re-possession of phase VI forest areas at the Attorney General's Office, Friday, April 10.

"What the PKH Task Force has done in the past year and a half has saved almost 10 percent of the state budget," said Prabowo.

According to Prabowo, if calculated at Rp370 trillion, the government can improve all schools in Indonesia, modernize its facilities, complete digitization, improve all school toilets, to build thousands of bridges in villages.

Prabowo said that the rescue of state assets and money should be seen as a matter of the people's fate, not just a matter of state administration. Therefore, he gave high praise to the PKH Task Force, which he said was working in difficult situations, including facing threats and intimidation in the field.

The President also admitted that in the bureaucracy and state institutions there were still parties who actually used their authority to help steal state money. Therefore, he again invited government officials to stop bad practices, ranging from smuggling to illegal mines and plantations.

In his hard-line speech, Prabowo emphasized that the law must be used to protect the nation's wealth. Without it, the welfare of the people will only be a slogan.