After a long time of neglect, villages now stand at the center of national development efforts. Trillions of rupiah have been disbursed to fund these efforts. Amid doubts and uncertainty, the openness in budget management has seen village funds boost villagers’ independence.
More than a dozen teenagers were having fun taking selfies in front of the colorful homes on the banks of Adewerno River in Bejalen village, Ambarawa district, Semarang regency, Central Java, on Sunday (6/8/2017). None of them realized that their selfie spot was an infamously flood-prone area not long ago.
“The whole village was often flooded just two years ago. When the Adewerno River overflowed, there would be inundation of 50 centimeters that could last for days,” said Bejalen resident Rini Suratih, 46.
However, in 2016, the Bejalen villagers improved their neighborhood using the village funds. They improved infrastructure, including by building a levee, and eased access to other villages. Access roads to rice fields were also improved to facilitate locals in bringing in their harvests.
Bejalen village head Nowo Sugiarto said the village had received Rp 730 million (US$54,726) in 2017, an increase from last year’s Rp 640 million. As usual, village infrastructure development was prioritized. It may sound cliché, but it is infrastructure development, especially the levee construction, that the locals need the most.
“Previously, we needed to submit proposals to get infrastructure development funds. The process is complicated and time consuming,” Nowo said.
The levee construction and road elevation projects in 2017, both funded by the village funds, are protecting local areas from flooding. Thanks to the infrastructure development, locals could transform flood-prone areas into new tourism destinations. House walls facing the river are painted in bright colors.
Nowo said Rp 600 million of the Rp 730 million in village funds received in 2017 was used for infrastructure development. The rest was used to develop village-owned enterprises (BUMDes), such as trash banks, car rentals and sound system rentals.
The enterprises are aimed to generate income for the village and create jobs.
Piping
Effective use of village funds can also be seen in Gogik village, North Semarang district. In the past two years, getting water was no longer a headache for locals. The village funds were used to construct water pipes to bring in water from the Mireng spring at the foothill of Mt. Ungaran.
“This year, we earmark a budget of Rp 200 million for piping,” Gogik village head Miyanto said.
Village administrations are also using their village funds to develop BUMDes in three sectors, namely financing, clean water management and tourism. Villagers with water meters installed in their homes are required to pay for the pipes’ maintenance.
To avoid a misappropriation of budget funds, openness and the involvement of locals are key aspects. Bagus Sadewa Ahmad, 21, the development planning and implementation unit head of Pandanlandung village, Wagir district, Malang regency, East Java, has done just that.
On Saturday, he was requesting clarification after he found indications that Rp 89 million of the local village funds had been misappropriated. The budget plan (RAB) for the construction of a drainage system said red bricks would be used. However, at the 25 percent implementation stage of the project, he found that batako (white bricks) had been used instead.
It was then agreed that the problem would be brought up at an implementation unit (TPK) meeting attended by villagers and village officials. The meeting decided that the already built part of the construction using white bricks should not be torn down. However, moving forward, red bricks should be used in the project.
The social monitoring mechanism in the village fund scheme requires active participation on the part of locals, according to Bagus. Deliberationis the key to finding solutions.
Social monitoring
Community Unit 3 head Edi Prayitno said deliberations were held to immediately resolve any issues and prevent them from negatively impacting other issues. Administrative monitoring is also conducted in Pandanlandung village. In the drainage project, for instance, the Rp 89 million budget was not disbursed at once but in stages. It could be four or six stages, in accordance with the agreement among villagers before the project was started.
The funds are then disbursed in several stages in accordance with the agreement between the construction material suppliers, the implementation team and the builder. In the model, the builder issues a payment request for a project upon receiving a receipt and other administrative requirements. Without the receipt, the funds could not be disbursed. The builder’s request requires the signatures of the village secretary, head and treasurer.
In Banyuwangi, village fund monitoring began at the program planning stage. Information technology is used to assist with budgeting.
The Banyuwangi Villagers Empowerment Agency’s (DPMD) head of village administration empowerment, Ahmad Faisol, said the regency provided a consultation service on village funds use. The consultation service helped village officials plan development projects.
Village officials are also taught how to use an online budgeting application for project planning, administration and reporting. This effectively reduces the number of people usually involved in manual budget planning. Apart from being easier to monitor, the system also automatically rejects any new budget requests without completed reports of previous projects.
Furthermore, Banyuwangi has also developed an e-monitoring system to ensure proper use of village funds. In the system, photos of the physical development of projects are taken and uploaded online, along with the project’s coordinates to facilitate monitoring through Google Maps.
As funds are disbursed to villages across the nation, the integrity of village head as project managers is vital. Creativity and innovation must be encouraged, so that the village funds will take on a bigger role in advancing the life of villagers.
(DIT/DIA/KRN/GER)
