Village fund allotted from the state funding must be accountable to the public. Its utilization should be transparent and accommodate the residents’ requirements and not the aspirations of their village heads.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Transparent, accountable, participatory, orderly, and disciplined village fund management mirrors its accountability to the public, according to the Presidential Staff Chief Moeldoko.

Moeldoko made the statement during a speech at Open University (UT) Serang and UT’s Alumni Association (IKA) as noted in a press statement issued here on Thursday.

“Village fund allotted from the state funding must be accountable to the public. Its utilization should be transparent and accommodate the residents’ requirements and not the aspirations of their village heads,” he emphasized.

Moeldoko admitted to the shortfall in the form of adequate and capable human resources in managing village funds.

Hence, village heads should be able to function as moderators, facilitators, and mobilizers, so that the village fund can be right on target and effective, especially in handling the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, he noted.

“Based on the president’s directives, a village is the foremost entity in terms of national development and the security context. In terms of handling the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, currently, it plays an important role in bringing about recovery in either the health or economic aspects. Hence, its fund management should be right on target and effective,” Moeldoko expounded.

Apart from the management of village funds, the village heads should be able to convert the village potentials into something economically valuable in the global market, thereby realizing a prosperous and just village, he affirmed.

“The potentials should not remain untapped, but instead, village heads should be able to showcase and sell them. There is a village in Yogyakarta that has begun exporting handicrafts through e-commerce,” he highlighted.

Through the webinar on “The Roles of IKA UT in Building the Nation, Guarding the Clean and Dignified Pilkades,” Moeldoko, also serving as the IKA UT chairman, urged all elements of the community to help realize an honest, fair, clean, and dignified village head election (Pilkades).

“It is no easy task to eliminate money politics and fraud in Pilkades, but at least, such cultures can be prevented step-by-step,” he noted.

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Translator: Rangga Pandu, Juwita Trisna R
Editor: Sri Haryati
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