The central government through the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) allocated village funds of Rp. 1.7 trillion in the General Allocation Fund (DAU) of the 2023 APBN for 8,506 urban villages in Indonesia.
This was conveyed by the Chairman of the Management Board of the Association of Indonesian City Governments (APEKSI), Bima Arya, during the National Working Meeting of Regional Secretaries at the Four Points By Sheraton Hotel, Makassar City, Monday (11/11/2022).
“Earlier, Mr. Adrianto (Director of General Transfer Funds, Ministry of Finance) said that in 2023 next year, God willing, the village budget will decrease which we have been waiting for. The village funds are allocated through the DAU,” he said.
In 2019 and 2020, Bima Arya said, village funds were disbursed and stopped in 2021 due to Covid-19 refocusing and others.
“But we continue to speak with the mayor’s friends. We see that there are cities that are side by side with villages. So the village gets it, the kelurahan doesn’t,” he explained.
“Alhamdulillah, it was delivered directly, it has been agreed to be disbursed next year and this is relevant when all of us cities are facing the threat of a recession,” said Bima Arya, who is also the mayor of Bogor.
According to him, this village fund can be used not only for facilities and infrastructure, but for economic empowerment and is very beneficial for residents.
Meanwhile, the Director of General Transfer Funds at the Ministry of Finance, Adrianto, said that in 2023 the DAU will have village funds worth Rp 1.7 trillion in total throughout Indonesia. There are around 8,506 urban villages in Indonesia.
“Hopefully this is used very well of course, I hope the cities or urban villages can get better. So on average they get around Rp 200 million,” he said.