Amazing 'Tigers Meow', Let's Take A Peek At Prabowo's Ministry Of Defense Spending Rp124 Trillion Last Year

Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto with President Jokowi (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Defense)

JAKARTA – Edy Mulyadi attracted public attention this weekend for issuing a fairly controversial statement 'the tiger meowing' which was associated with the Minister of Defense (Menhan) Prabowo Subianto.

The commotion had a long tail with the report of the figure of a man named Edy Mulyani to the Regional Police of North Sulawesi (Sulut) by DPD Gerindra Sulut. This is stated in the police report (LP) numbered LP/B/29/I/2022/SPKT/POLDA SULUT.

Apart from this, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto actually has a big responsibility to defend the vast NKRI. This can be seen from the budget value of the ministry he leads with the second highest record after the Ministry of PUPR.

So, what will the performance of the Ministry of Defense look like throughout 2021?

Based on data quoted from the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu), the Ministry of Human Rights in 2021 has a budget ceiling of IDR 137.3 trillion. This amount then shrunk to Rp131.3 trillion in the middle of the year due to the reallocation of the budget as support for handling COVID-19 when the delta variant spreads.

Meanwhile, the realization of spending until December 31, 2021 is known to be Rp. 124.9 trillion, equivalent to 95.2 percent of the change ceiling.

This large amount of money was then used for the modernization of defense equipment, non-defense equipment and infrastructure. In detail, spending is directed to the procurement/improvement of the capabilities of floating equipment, Indonesian warships, naval flotilla, combat vehicles and tactical vehicles, aircraft, and submarines.

"The progress is 90.2 percent of the overall target of 8,412 units worth Rp. 24.8 trillion," said the Ministry of Finance report published in early January.

Just so you know, the amount of funds used to purchase various equipment is included in the central government's capital expenditure scheme, which totals Rp. 241.5 trillion, which is higher than the 2020 capital expenditure which was recorded at Rp. 190.9 trillion.