Riau Islands Provincial Government No Longer Budgeting Funds For Handling COVID-19

ILLUSTRA TION BY VOI

TANJUNGPINANG - The Riau Islands Provincial Government has ensured that it no longer allocates funds for the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in planning changes to the 2022 regional revenue and expenditure budget (APBD-P).

Riau Islands Provincial Secretary Adi Prihantara said the policy was taken considering the increasing sloping COVID-19 cases. As of Wednesday (29/6), only three active cases were recorded.

"Even if there is an increase in COVID-19 cases, our preparation is not in planning the budget, but using unexpected costs or BTT," said Regional Secretary Adi Prihantara in Tanjungpinang, quoted by Antara, Thursday, June 30.

He also mentioned that the total BTT budget in the Riau Islands provincial government budget in 2022 was around Rp. 30 billion.

The budget can be used for handling events/disasters, one of which is the COVID-19 pandemic, including social assistance for families confirmed by COVID-19.

"In 2021, we will budget Rp. 20 billion for COVID-19 social assistance funds. For now, there is no budget planning, but it can be accommodated through BTT if needed," said Adi.

Adi said that recently there had been no more disbursement of COVID-19 funds, except for the operational financing of the COVID-19 Prevention and Control Task Force.

"The last disbursement of COVID-19 funds was in May 2022, such as the cost of carrying out vaccinations," said Adi.

Regional Secretary Adi said that his party is currently rushing the discussion of the 2022 APBD-P, with a focus on relocation and budget adjustments to regional priority sectors.

"We have submitted a report on the implementation of accountability (LPP) for the Riau Islands Provincial Budget 2021 to the DPRD, after which only the 2022 APBD-P will be discussed," said Adi.