"The more the money circulates in the village, the more the welfare of village communities will increase," President Jokowi remarked when giving a speech at the Development Evaluation and Empowerment of Village Communities and Priority of the 2019 Village Fund Use in Palembang Sport and Convention Center.
Village development and empowerment is one of the government`s commitments to bring economic equality in the country.
President Jokowi stated that the orientation of national development had indeed undergone several changes in the past few years.
"Indeed, the development we have been working on in the past four years has changed our orientation to start the development from the village," the president said.
An increase in the budget allocation for village development each year is one indication that the government is indeed prioritizing villages as the main development program.
Hence, the head of state has invited the community to oversee the use of village funds in order to be right on target.
"The public must oversee the use of village funds," the head of state remarked during the Village Community Development and Empowerment Policy Evaluation and the Familiarization of Village Fund Use in 2019 at the East Lampung Islamic Center earlier on Friday night.
According to the president, the government has provided village funds amounting to Rp20.7 trillion in 2015, Rp40 trillion in 2016, and Rp60 trillion each in 2017 and 2018.
The government plans to disburse Rp73 trillion for village funds in 2019.
"We want the village funds to be used for the circulation of money in villages. Hence, I hope the funds would be overseen by the public," President Jokowi stated.
Reporting by Hanni Sofia
Editing by Otniel Tamindael, Fardah Assegaf
Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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