The government will unlikely supervise the use of funds in some 74 thousand villages in Indonesia, the President said after handing over land titles to 5,500 residents at the Kerkof sports field in Garut district, West Java, on Tuesday.
He assured that as one of the governments key programs to develop villages and reduce disparities, the village fund program is still on the right track and will meet the target.
However, he realized that a good system, procedure and supervision are needed to implement the program and that the fund will be able to advance the villages.
"I see that about 900 village heads have been arrested for (abusing) the village fund. We also do not turn a blind eye to the fact that some of the 74 thousand villages have abused it. But based on the results of a survey we have conducted, most of them have used it according to the target," he said.
He said the village fund is directly transferred from the central government to the villages. The villages are held responsible for the use of the fund. The public must also supervise and control the use of the fund, be it used to build irrigation networks, roads and so on, he said.
"It is impossible for the central, provincial and district/municipal governments to supervise the use of the fund in the so many villages," he said.
He also called on the public to participate in deciding the use of the village fund. The fund can be used to finance any productive activity to develop rural economy.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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