Checking The Use Of Village Budget, Jokowi Meets Village Heads In Serang Regency

President Joko Widodo met village heads throughout Serang Regency in Banten, Monday (8/1/2024). (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo met village heads throughout Serang Regency in Margagiri Village, Serang Regency, Banten, Monday, January 8. During the working visit, Jokowi emphasized the importance of managing village funds to provide real benefits for the community in a village. "I hope that the money, the budget that has entered the village, will really become something for the village, can trigger (trigger) production productivity in the village," Jokowi said as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, 8 January. Jokowi explained that until now there are a number of infrastructures that have been built and useful, as a result of village funds that have been distributed by the central government, one of which is the construction of village roads that have reached 350 thousand kilometers. "It means that per village approximately four kilometers, because there are 75 thousand villages, there are 350 (Km) divided into approximately four to five kilometers per village. This is a very good result. Then also, the village bridge that has been built, the data yang ada di saya 1.900.000 meter jembatan desa; dan ini harus meningkat terus, meningkat, tegasnya, tegasnya.Jokowi juga menuturkan bahwa pembangunan jalan desa sepanjang 350 ribu kilometer tersebut juga merupakan bukti bukti nyata pemerintah yang tidak hanya melaksanakan pembangunan infrastruktur besar.Menurut dia, jumlah jalan desa yang telah dibangun jauh lebih panjang dari pembangunan jalan tol di seluruh Tanah Air." Supaya kita semua tahu, jangan hanya berpikir yang dimangurus yang The big ones, in fact, are smaller. In fact, the village road was 350 thousand (Km), then also the village market was 14,600 that was built. Then also, the reservoirs built from village funds are already 6,700 reservoirs. This is also not a small amount," Jokowi explained. Therefore, he appealed to village heads to plan infrastructure development properly, one of which is through the preparation of building designs. Jokowi said the central government, through the Ministry of Planning National Development/National Development Planning Agency (PPN/Bappenas), will be ready to assist the village government in preparing the plan. "God willing, we will help you," said Jokowi. He also emphasized that each village has different characteristics. Therefore, Jokowi appealed to village heads to building villages according to the needs and potentials of each village. "Don't just imitate, just photocopy, not necessarily every village has the same advantage and potential. So, really we have to understand what village strength, what village potential, that must be calculated; so that it becomes a thing that is beneficial for the people," he said. On that occasion, Jokowi also appealed to village heads to maintain the circulation of money in their area; wrong; the only thing is to buy and use village original goods or products in carrying out infrastructure development in the village. "Although I know the price of goods in the village and those in the city, there may be 5 percent, 10 percent, 15 percent, that's okay; the important thing is that the circulation of money is in the village," said President Jokowi.

Also accompanying President Jokowi in these activities included the Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration (Mendes PDTT) Abdul Halim Iskandar, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono, Minister of Trade (Mendag) Zulkifli Hasan, and Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Budi Karya Sumadi. Then, Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/Head of the National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) Hadi Tjahjanto, TNI Commander General Agus Subiyanto, National Police Chief General Pol. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, Acting Governor of Banten Al Muktabar, and Serang Regent Ratu Tatu Chasanah.