Deputy Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Laode M Syarif (left) accompanied by KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah speaks in a press conference on the red-handed arrests at the KPK building, Jakarta, Wednesday (2/8). The KPK had just arrested, among others, the Pamekasan Regent, head of Pamekasan Prosecutors\' Office, head of the inspectorate of Pamekasan administration, Dasok village head, and Mapper Tlanakan village head. They were detained for their alleged involvement in the misuse of village funds.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — It has been shown that village funds and their allocation, which have been disbursed since 2015, have become a new source of corruption in the regions. A combination of the poor capacity of village governance and minimum supervision has led to the situation.
In fact, the amount of village funds and village funds allocation based on Law No. 6/2014 on villages has kept increasing. In that year, the village fund stood atRp 60 trillion. Meanwhile, the village funds allocation from cities/regencies is 10 percent of the balance of the regional revenue and expenditure budget (APBD).
Recently, a corruption case related to village funds occurred in Pamekasan, East Java. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Wednesday (2/8) caught Pamekasan regent Achmad Syafii Yasin, Pamekasan Regional Inspectorate head Sutjipto Utomo, Pamekasan Prosecutor’s Office head Rudy Indra and Dasok Village head Agus Mulyadi red-handed and named bribery suspects in a case involving the misappropriation of Rp 100 million in village funds.
The operation started at around 7:25 a.m. at the official residence of the head of the Pamekasan Prosecutor’s Office on Jl. Panglegur, when Sutjipto handed over Rp 250 million to Rudy. After arresting the pair, the KPK nabbed several others, including the Pamekasan regent.
Sutjipto handed over Rp 250 million in Rp 100,000 banknotes wrapped in black plastic upon receiving instructions from Agus and Syafii. The money was aimed to “safeguard” the village fund misappropriation case being handled at the prosecutor’s office.
This village fund misappropriation case was not the first of its kind. In October 2016, the village head of Kilo in Poso, Central Sulawesi, was tried for stealing Rp 140 million in village funds. The Kranggan village head in Madiun, East Java, was also taken to court on July 31 for using village funds to repay his personal debts.
KPK deputy chairman Laode M Syarif said the management of village funds must be carried out responsibly so as to avoid corruption. “This is important, given the huge amount of money involved,” he said.
Regarding the state prosecutor who was named a suspect in the case, Attorney General HM Prasetyo allowed the KPK to take the case to trial. The attorney general’s office would also process the case and issue sanctions for the prosecutor.
Misappropriation
Indonesia Forum for Budget Transparency secretary general Yenny Sutjipto said the potential for misappropriating village funds and village funds allocation occurred at the regency and city levels because of the poor capacity of village administrations. Many regulations exist that confuse village administrations, mainly in relation to the procurement of goods and services.
Because they were unable to manage the funds, the village administration would ask regency officials to manage the fund. On occasion, when the fund had not been disbursed, they asked certain companies to provide the funds and repaid them after receiving the village fund.
“Thirty percent of the village fund is for administration and 70 percent for development and empowerment programs. So far, the misappropriation could be as high as 40 percent of the development and empowerment fund,” Yenny said.
The disbursement of the total Rp 60 trillion in village funds allocated to 74,910 villages this year was made in two stages. The first stage was 60 percent, or Rp 36 trillion, and the second stage was 40 percent, or Rp 24 trillion.
Director general of fiscal balance Boediarso Teguh Widodo at the Finance Ministry said the ministry had disbursed the first stage of village funds to all regencies and cities, namely 434 areas. The value disbursed was Rp 35.8 trillion, or 99.5 percent of the first stage.
Boediarso said most of the disbursed fund had been channeled to village administrations. This amounted toRp 26.2 trillion for 55,131 villages, or 73.6 percent of total villages selected to receive the fund.
