East Java Governor Reminds Regional Heads To Immediately Distribute Village Funds

East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa/PHOTO VIA ANTARA

SURABAYA - East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa reminded regional and village heads to immediately process the distribution of Village Funds (DD) so that they can be enjoyed by the community immediately.

"This includes supporting the acceleration of development and reducing poverty at the village level," said Khofifah at the Grahadi State building in Surabaya, quoted by Antara, Friday, February 25.

Khofifah emphasized that the effect of the direct distribution of Village Fund cash assistance on reducing poverty was very significant.

In detail, the reduction in the poverty rate for the period March to September 2021 was 0.81 percent or equivalent to 313,130 people, and this figure was the largest nationally.

Then, the decline in rural poverty in 2020 - 2021 is 1.37 percent and is the highest poverty reduction in the last decade. Meanwhile, the decrease in urban poverty in the same year was 0.38 percent.

Khofifah also held a coordination meeting on the Acceleration of Disbursement of Village Funds which was attended by all regents and Mayors of Batu in Surabaya, Thursday, February 24, and was attended by the Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Abdul Halim Iskandar.

This year, he said, East Java recorded the issuance of the fastest National Disbursement Order (SP2D) in Madiun Regency as of January 31, 2022 at 08.25 WIB.

The next SP2D issuance was followed by Tulungagung Regency, Blitar Regency and Magetan Regency on the same day at 10.30 WIB.

Governor Khofifah said that the acceleration of the distribution of Village Funds was a commitment of the East Java Provincial Government to support the implementation of development programs at the village level.

Especially in the current situation, he said, the Village Fund is one of the important instruments in handling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"At least 40 percent of the Village Fund allocation is BLT as social protection for the community in the midst of a pandemic," said the General Chairperson of the PP Muslimat NU.

Khofifah said that in 2021 the East Java Provincial Government had distributed 99.92 percent of the Village Fund for 7,721 villages.

The total budget disbursed was Rp.7.653 trillion out of the total allocation of Rp.7.659 trillion.

Khofifah explained that there were three villages that had not been distributed, two of which were a village in Sidoarjo which was affected by the Lapindo mudflow, while the other village was Dooro Village, Cerme District, Gresik, because the village head was facing legal problems.

"From the DD that has been distributed, BLT as social protection has been enjoyed by 570,519 beneficiary families with a total budget of IDR 2.054 trillion or 95.86 percent disbursed," said Khofifah.

This year, he continued, East Java received an allocation of Village Funds from the Ministry of Villages PDTT amounting to Rp. 7.76 trillion for 7,724 villages. This allocation experienced a fairly high increase of Rp. 100.268 billion compared to last year.

Of this amount, progress until February 24 showed a significant acceleration, namely distribution to 1,839 villages with a total budget of Rp 601.6 billion.

On the other hand, after the coordination meeting in Surabaya, PDTT Village Minister Abdul Halim Iskandar expressed his gratitude and extraordinary appreciation to the East Java Governor who had worked hard to ensure that Village Funds were distributed quickly and on target.

"The governor's mother is very attentive, so when it comes to village affairs, Village Funds, to BUMDes, East Java is always at the forefront of other provinces in Indonesia," said Gus Halim, his nickname.