Since the passage of Law Number 6 of 2014 on January 15, 2014, all villages in Blitar, including Purworejo, have shown rapid development growth due to village funds programs.
The law targets reducing the developmental discrepancies in those villages.
Village secretary Gunawan remarked that the village fund programs that started in 2015 have been beneficial by developing and empowering villages.
In 2019, Purworejo has received about Rp830 million through the village fund programs, a rise from Rp730 million in the previous years, while Rp590 million was obtained from Blitar’s local government budget, up from Rp520 million in 2018.
The funds received by villages from the programs are approximately equal, but each village independently manages the funds. In Purworejo, 60 percent of the funds were channeled for infrastructure development while the remaining 40 percent for village empowerment, comprising health and educational facilities.
Transforming the face of the village
Gunawan remarked that in 2019, the healthcare sector had received 140 million funding to improve the quality of service in posyandu, or community healthcare service for children.
Villages authorities also allocated funds for house improvement programs, with approximately six to seven million to renovate each house.
Gunawan pointed out that despite the funding received not being too high, it does encourage the people to participate.
“With village funds programs, we could see the people's participation in the village development process. It encourages them to get more involved in the development process,” Gunawan affirmed.
In Purworejo, where farmers constitute 60 percent of the populace, there are several cattle raisers that have the local government's support to develop biogas systems for producing biogas used in cooking. Biogas is made from cattle waste.
Some 42 biogas utilities are present in the village.
Apart from cattle waste, agricultural waste is also utilized for the biogas systems.
Wahono, a local farmer, noted that seven to eight households have access to the biogas system.
In a bid to develop feature products in the village, especially pertaining to milk processing, village authorities have organized trainings for people incorporated in Pokmas Wisma Susu, the village's milk processing center, in Purworejo.
The training aims to edify the public on further processing their milk products to derive greater economical value to boost their wellbeing.
Reporter: Asmaul Chusna/Gusti Nur Cahya
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
