In Order To Know Why The Betawi Bamus Grant Fund Was Forced To Stop 2023

DKI DPRD

JAKARTA - DKI DPRD Commission A member Gembong Warsono explained the reason for his party proposing that the granting of cash grants to the Betawi Community Consultative Body (Bamus Betawi) be stopped in 2023.

Gembong said that instead of providing grant funds, the DPRD considered it better for Bamus Betawi to receive a grant in the form of activities attached to the DKI regional government work unit (SKPD) or each service.

"So, in the meeting, Commission A proposed that Bamus Betawi carry out activities attached to the SKPD," Gembong told reporters, Saturday, November 13.

Gembong gave an example, if Bamus Betawi wants to carry out economic activities involving MSMEs, then they can propose activities to the PPUMKM Office.

Then, if Bamus Betawi wants to hold activities in the context of preserving Betawi culture, they can submit an activity proposal to the Culture Service.

"The point is to be more empowered. So, the empowerment of the Betawi bamus will be more effective, not like it is now which is a cash grant, right. Money grants, according to the commission's friends, are less empowering," explained Gembong.

Gembong said that the proposal to stop grant funds in the 2023 APBD also applies to the 1982 Betawi Tribe Deliberative Body.

Furthermore, Gembong considers that the conversion of the form of grants from money into activities can actually open up the possibility of an activity budget that is larger than the amount of grant funds that have been set from the start.

"If the grant is attached to the SKPD, then the budget allocation to Bamus Betawi is much larger in order to raise the quality of Bamus Betawi, in the context of empowering the people of Jakarta," he said.

Bamus Betawi must be tolerant because they did not receive a grant from the DKI Provincial Government in the 2020 APBD draft. The budget they should have received was Rp. 6 billion and had been budgeted for, but it was not approved by the DPRD.

The reason is that the budget for the grant funds was crossed out by the DPRD because it was not discussed at the DPRD Commission meeting or at the DKI Budget Agency during the 2020 RAPBD discussion.

The chairman of the DKI DPRD, Prasetio Edi Marsudi, who is the chairman of the Budget Board meeting, explained that Bamus Betawi's budget discussion had been postponed in the meeting because he was going to the toilet. Unfortunately, Prasetio forgot to discuss it again after returning to the meeting room.

Even so, Prasetio will seek to provide grant funds to Bamus Betawi in the middle of the fiscal year. This is because there is a legal basis for granting the grant funds, namely Regional Regulation (Perda) Number 4 of 2015 concerning Preservation of Betawi Culture.