More Problematic Villages Emerge in Konawe

KOMPAS/SAIFUL RIJAL YUNUS

A house belonging to a resident of Lerehoma village of Anggaberi, Konawe, Southeast Sulawesi, as seen on Sunday (10/11/2019). Lerehoma village is inhabited by only 33 families and was established under the fictitious Konawe Regency Regulation No. 7/2011, but has been receiving billions of rupiah through the central government’s village funds scheme since 2017.

The legality of three regional regulations in Konawe, under which 101 villages that receive village funds were established, is believed problematic. Hundreds of billions of rupiah in village funds have been disbursed to the regency.

KENDARI, KOMPAS — The number of allegedly questionable villages receiving the village funds has increased in Konawe regency, Southeast Sulawesi. The latest probe has found a total of 101 villages, from the previous 56, that were formed based on three regional regulations that are strongly suspected of being problematic.

Two of the three regional regulations on the formation and definitive establishment of villages are not registered with the regional legislation body, which indicates a problem with their legality. The third regulation was issued during a government moratorium on forming new villages formation. However, the villages that were established under them have continued to receive village funds over the last five years.

The Home Ministry has sent a field verification team to Konawe to investigate the case. This team has visited Konawe three times. “I arrived here before the Cabinet was installed on 23 October 2019,” the Home Ministry’s director of village structure and administration, Aferi Syamsidar Fudail, said on Monday (11/11/2019) when contacted in Konawe.

Home Ministry spokesman Bahtiar said the team had over a dozen members and fell under the ministry’s directorate general of village administration development. It was tasked with verifying village data and coordinating with the regency administration and the police. The team is scheduled to return to Jakarta on 12 Nov.

Kompas has traced four Konawe regulations related to the formation and definitive establishment of villages that date back to 2011 and are registered with the Home Ministry. The allegedly problematic three regulations are Regional Regulation No. 7/2011 on the Amendment to Konawe Regency Regional Regulation No. 2/2011 on the Formation and Definitive Establishment of Villages in Konawe; Regional Regulation No. 1/2014 on the Formation and Definitive Establishment of Villages in Konawe; and Regional Regulation No. 7/2012 on the Formation and Definitive Establishment of Villages in Konawe.

KOMPAS/SAIFUL RIJAL YUNUS

Motorists pass along the road in Lerehoma village of Anggaberi, Konawe, Southeast Sulawesi, as seen on Sunday (10/11/2019). Lerehoma village is inhabited by only 33 families and was established under the fictitious Konawe Regency Regulation No. 7/2011, but has been receiving billions of rupiah through the central government’s village funds scheme since 2017.

The three regional regulations have established 117 villages, of which 16 are duplicated in two separate regulations.

Not registered

Regional Regulation No. 7/2011 was never registered as a regulation on village formation with the regional legislation body, but exists in the Home Ministry’s records. Fifty-six villages are registered and have been receiving the village funds since 2017.

“Regional Regulation No. 7/2011 is registered as a regulation on validating the 2011 Regional Budget, not on the definitive establishment of villages,” said Konawe Secretariat legal head Apono.

Regional Regulation No. 7/2012 is the legal basis under which 27 villages were established. This second regulation was signed by then-regent Lukman Abunawas and then-Konawe secretary Irawan Laliasa.

Apono ascertained that Regional Regulation No. 7/2012 on the division of villages did not exist, and claimed that he had only been made aware of the regulation. “What is obvious is that there are only two regional regulations on the definitive establishment of villages registered with the regional legislation body, [regulations] No. 2/2011 and No. 1/2014,” he said.

The problem was that Regional Regulation No. 1/2014, which provided the legal basis for the formation of 34 villages, was issued just as the government announced a moratorium on new villages. The regulation established 16 villages in Konawe and 18 villages in Konawe Islands regency, but the 16 villages in Konawe were already listed under Regional Regulation No. 7/2011, meaning that they were formed in duplicate.

Separately, Konawe Regency Council Speaker Ardin declined to comment on the existence of the two unregistered regional regulations. “Regional Regulation No. 7/2011 doesn’t exist. I don’t know about Regional Regulation No. 7/2012. I’ll take a look and check later,” he said.

The disbursement for three villages was halted this year because they were problematic.

Data at the Konawe Village Community Empowerment Agency shows that 297 villages in the regency receive the village funds. The disbursement for three villages was halted this year because they were problematic.

The Finance Ministry’s data shows that Konawe was allocated Rp 201 billion in village funds in 2018; it received Rp 221 billion in 2017. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani revealed the existence of “phantom” or fictitious villages at the House of Representatives (DPR) on 4 Nov.

Field surveys show that the villages in Konawe with village funds allocations are sparsely populated. Some fall short of the village funds recipient criteria. Lerehoma village, for instance, has a recorded population of only 55.

KOMPAS/SAIFUL RIJAL YUNUS

Jasran, 46, the former head of Lerehoma village, shows a copy of Regional Regulation No. 7/2011 concerning the formation and definition of villages, including Lerehoma village, at his residence, Konawe, Southeast Sulawesi, Sunday (11/10/2019). Jasran was appointed as the village chief in 2017 without going through any local election. The village has been receiving billions of rupiah through the central government’s village funds scheme since 2017.

According to DPR Commission II deputy chairman Arif Wibowo, who comes from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction, the discovery of fictitious villages indicates a problem in verification, validation and monitoring. This indicated that supervision was treated as a mere formality and did not involve field inspections.

Southeast Sulawesi Police chief Brig, Gen. Merdisyam said it was investigating the rules on the division of villages. (JAL/BOW/SPW)