Good News From Yogyakarta, Local Government Will Distribute Rp22.6 Billion Privilege Fund To Accelerate Handling COVID-19

Illustration (Irfan Meidianto/VOI)

JAKARTA - The Yogyakarta Special Region Government will immediately distribute special funds (Special Funds) a total of Rp22.6 billion to accelerate the handling of COVID at the village level.

"The allocation of Funds for special financial assistance from the sub-district or village government is Rp22.6 billion which will be given to 392 sub-district in DIY. If everything goes smoothly, it should have been completed by early August 2021," said the Head of the Special Committee of Yogyakarta Special Region Aris Eko Nugroho in the Regional Government's official website of Special Yogyakarta, reported by Antara, Monday, August 2.

Each village or sub-district in DIY, said Aris, will later receive an allocation of funds with a minimum amount of Rp50 million and a maximum of Rp145 million.

According to Aris, the size of the funds received is not based on the number of residents or the area of the sub-district but is adjusted for factors such as the presence of Residents, the number of red RTs in the sub-district, and whether or not there are many who are self-isolating.

Each village, he said, could take advantage of these Special Funds to accelerate the handling of COVID-19 depending on the condition of the village.

"Starting from education, the burial of corpses, shelter operations, basic necessities, strengthening the task force, and so on," he said.

However, to be able to disburse financial assistance, the village government must immediately make changes to the Regional Budget first.

He said the Funds could not be distributed if the village concerned had not made changes to the Regional Budget, because it would violate the rules. However, if the village meets these requirements, Special Funds can be disbursed immediately.

"If they can make the changes today, Monday they want to disburse 'monggo' (please). The money is already there," said Aris.

Therefore, he pushed for changes in the Regional Budget in each village to be accelerated to support emergency measures to handle COVID-19.

The speed of disbursement of funds to villages depends on the speed with which the village/residence government makes changes to the Regional Budget.

"The distribution depends on the speed of the village/residence. Right, this Special Fund will be included in the Village Budget as sub-district expenditure income. For example, for self-isolation, the village will coordinate with the Public Health Center as soon as possible. If it runs smoothly, the disbursement should be completed in early August," said Aris.