The South Sorong Regency Government Election Fund Worth IDR 38 Billion Is Ready

Sorsel Regional Head Election Fund (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Ahead of the 2024 Regional Head Election (Pilkada), the South Sorong Regency Government (Pemkab), Southwest Papua Province will disburse IDR 38 billion which is disbursed in stages three times. Head of the Regional Financial and Asset Management Agency (BPKAD) Frans Barrie Kewetare, in Teminabuan, Thursday, said that the Pilkada budget as outlined in the draft regional grant agreement (NPHD) would be sought through three stages. "By seeing that the Pilkada stages have started, we from the local government invite the General Election Commission (KPU) of South Sorsel to discuss the NPHD follow-up that we have signed. We are now focusing on technical distribution, while for that time there have been no changes. anything," Frans explained as quoted by ANTARA, Saturday, May 9. He explained that he had just held a meeting with the KPUD, with the aim that there was an agreement for the mechanism for distributing the grant, but it had not been completed because the KPUD of Southwest Papua and Sorsel participated in Maybrat activities. "We also see the ability to provide regional finance. In the NPHD, it was decided that it was worth Rp. 38 billion for the implementation of the Pilkada, and so far the Regency Government has only made the first phase transfer of Rp. 2 billion," explained Frans. Frans emphasized that the Regency Government still fully supports the Pilkada stages in Sorsel and there is no other tendency because the central government regulations are clear. "As a form of support, we have signed (NPHD), so it is impossible if we do not support it while the signing has been carried out. The implementation of the Pilkada stage in Sorsel is clear, we just want to communicate regarding technical distribution," said Frans. Meanwhile, the chairman of the Sorsel KPU, Yonece Kambu, said that the budget of Rp36 billion for the second and third stages according to the NPHD was disbursed in March 2024 worth Rp18.4 billion and the third phase for July 2024 was Rp18.4 billion. "The KPU together with the Sorsel Regency Government have agreed regarding the value of the grant funds contained in the NPHD of Rp. 38 billion, and since the signing it has been late in December 2023 transfers have been made to the proposed bank worth Rp. 2 billion," said Yonece. He continued, the second phase of disbursement should have been carried out based on the NPHD in March 2024, the Regency Government should have disbursed the budget for the second phase but have not been found. "Why was the disbursement carried out three times because by looking at the regional financial condition, it was agreed to disburse it three times, including in November 2023, March 2024 and July 2024," said Yonece. He continued, the total budget that has not been transferred by the Regency Government to the KPU is worth Rp36 billion, which has not yet been realized, namely the second and third stages. "I have said that the process and stages cannot run if there is no assistance, the Sorsel Regency Government must provide support, because the Pilkada is the responsibility of the Regency Government," he said. Meanwhile, Chairman of the Southwest Papua KPU, Andarias Daniel Kambu, in Teminabuan, Monday, said that in principle the KPU in carrying out its duties was based on legal certainty. "This regional election is the responsibility of the regional government so that to support the implementation of this stage requires support from the Regency Government," said Daniel. He continued, the meeting was held to ensure the readiness of the local government to allocate a budget for the implementation of the Pilkada. "The stages of the Sorsel Regional Head Election are already underway, so the regency government support is needed in allocating the budget," said Daniel.

He continued, the stages were already underway, not talking about the distribution of presentations of 30 percent, 40 percent and 30 percent. "Based on the circular of the Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri), the grant funds were distributed twice, the first stage was in November 2023 and the second stage was in March 2024, but until now there has been no budget that has entered the Sorsel KPU," said Daniel. He suspects that the Sorsel Regency Government is not ready to hold the election stages, because until now there has been no clarity regarding the budget allocation.