"We are optimistic that we can elevate the living standard of the remaining 17 underdeveloped villages by optimally utilizing provincial funds and other means," East Kalimantan Governor Isran Noor said in a statement in Samarinda City on Sunday.
East Kalimantan has been chosen by the central government to br the site of Indonesia's new capital Nusantara. It is being developed in the areas of North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara Districts.
Governor Noor said his administration continues to accelerate its utmost efforts to alleviate the underdeveloped villages before his term in office ends this year.
Various programs of regional apparatus are also currently underway to pave the way towards "Zero Underdeveloped Villages East Kalimantan", he added.
"To this end, all related stakeholders should work hard, especially those from the Community Empowerment and Village Government Offices at the provincial, district/municipal, sub-district, and village levels. We are optimistic that it will be achieved this year," Noor affirmed.
The government is determined to developing every inch of the province, he added.
The village funds are one of the essential means for developing rural areas. With that in mind, as the chairperson of the Association of Indonesian Provincial Governments (APPSI), he is constantly echoing the request for village funds allocation from the State Budget (APBN).
Funds disbursement from the APBN for Village Funds Program, he continued, must go on. "I truly hope that the program will be carried on," Noor said.
According to the Law No. 6 of 2014 regarding villages, the Village Funds constitute a budget sourced from the APBN, which is transferred to Regional Expenditure Revenue Budget (APBD) to be used to meet villages' needs.
The funds are utilized to finance government administration, development projects, as well as society coaching and empowerment activities. For the year of 2023, East Kalimantan received a total of Rp777.27 billion to finance development activities in 841 villages.
In addition to APBN-based funds, the provincial government also provides assistance to villages in the form of Financial Aid of Rp50 million for each village. The assistance has been routinely distributed since 2021, with a special focus on handling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Governor Noor expects that the aid will contribute to the efforts to alleviate the remaining 17 underdeveloped villages by elevating their people's living standard. The figure was obtained from data provided by East Kalimantan's Developing Village Index (IDM) of 2022.
The latest data has revealed the provincial government's success in massively suppressing the figure, considering the fact that there were as many as 518 underdeveloped and extremely underdeveloped villages based on the 2018 edition of the IDM.
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Translator: Arumanto, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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