Kemendes PDTT: 47 Thousand Villages Have Distributed Village Fund BLT With A Total Budget Of IDR 2.9 Trillion

Minister of Villages, Disadvantaged Areas and Transmigration, Abdul Halim Iskandar. (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Areas, and Transmigration (Kemendes PDTT) recorded that 47,030 villages had distributed Village Fund cash direct assistance (BLT) for underprivileged people affected by the corona virus or COVID-19.

PDTT Mendes Abdul Halim Iskandar said the total budget for aid that had been disbursed was Rp. 2.9 trillion. Thus, the disbursement of BLT Village Funds was 74.6 percent of the total 63,029 villages that had received village fund transfers from the central government to village accounts.

However, Abdul Halim continued, when compared with the total number of villages in Indonesia, namely 74,953 villages, this achievement is only 62 percent.

"If we see, the distribution of BLT graphs continues even though Lebaran. So that if we look at the Special Village Deliberation (Musdesus), the distribution is short-distance, for example, May 23, 44,035 thousand villages that channeled, Lebaran 24-25 May and that day rose from 44,035 thousand villages to 47,030, almost three thousand increases. This is a happy thing, "he said, in a video conference with reporters, Wednesday, May 27.

Abdul Halim assessed that the increase in the BLT Village Fund disbursement rate shows that the village head is committed to providing the rights of the villagers who have been registered and Musdesused, so that they are entitled to BLT from village funds.

38 Districts / Villages Do Not Distribute Village Fund BLT

Abdul Halim said, there are at least 38 districts / cities whose village fund distribution progress is still zero percent. He said his party had checked in the field and each region had different problems.

Furthermore, Abdul Halim said, one example of a case was found in Ende Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). In this area, many village heads have just been appointed so that they have not prepared the APBDes.

Not only that, in the Central Java region there are also many Village Consultative Bodies (BPD) whose members have just been appointed so that they have not been able to distribute Village Fund BLT.

"The constraints are fundamental in nature, so there are still 38 regencies / cities that have not completely disbursed," he explained.

According to Abdul Halim, the geographical location of the area concerned was also one of the factors that hindered the distribution of Village Fund BLT. The terrain is difficult, causing local governments to spend extra money and manpower to reach it. This geographic constraint is dominated by areas in Papua and West Papua.

Abdul Halim said that the same case was also found in East Kalimantan, to be precise Mahakam Ulu Regency and Nias Regency in North Sumatra. Then, another case occurred in West Kalimantan, Bengkayang Regency. The Village Fund has been disbursed, but the distribution is still zero because the regent is running the day.

Not only that, said Abdul Halim, there are also regions that want to complete other central government social assistance first before distributing the Village Fund BLT.

For information, currently there are 109 districts / cities whose Village Fund BLT has been channeled 100 percent and 138 districts / cities that have only 75-98 percent. Then 55 districts / cities only 50-74 percent and 94 districts / cities that are below 50 percent that have just been channeled.

The number of beneficiary families (KPM) recorded by the Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Areas and Transmigration is 4,992,025 KPM with a total disbursed fund of Rp. 2.995 trillion.