Jakarta, Jan 5 (Antara) - The government in 2018 will allocate Rp60 trillion as village funds, of which some 30 percent, or Rp18 trillion, is designated to finance labor-intensive programs in villages to reduce the poverty rate.
The Rp60 trillion will be distributed to 74,910 villages. On an average, each village will receive Rp800 million, of which 30 percent, or Rp240 million, will be allocated to villagers involved in labor-intensive programs.
"The government will enhance its labor-intensive programs through village funds in 2018. Some 30 percent of the village funds will be allocated to the programs," Minister of Village, Disadvantaged Regions Development and Transmigration Eko Putro Sandjojo noted in a statement here on Wednesday.
The programs are projected to absorb a workforce of five to six million and are expected to help reduce the poverty rate in rural areas.
The village funds in 2018 will be focused on creating job opportunities for villagers through labor-intensive programs and self-managed infrastructure development. Through the programs, the government is optimistic of reducing the poverty rate in 2018.
The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) has set a target of lowering the poverty rate to less than 10 percent of the total population this year.
The poverty rate had fallen slightly, from 10.64 percent in 2016 to 10.12 percent in 2017.
"(The poverty rate of) 10.12 percent is the lowest in Indonesia's history. We hope it would stay below 10 percent this year," Bappenas Chief Bambang Brodjonegoro noted following a cabinet plenary meeting at the State Palace on Wednesday.
The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) on Tuesday (Jan 2) released data indicating that the number of poor recorded in September 2017 reached 26.58 million people, or down by 1.19 million, from 27.77 million in March 2017. As compared to September 2016, the poverty rate fell, from 10.7 percent to 10.12 percent.
Overall, the poverty rate in Indonesia from 1999 to September 2017 continued to decline both in terms of number and percentage. In 1999, the number of poor reached 47.97 million people, or some 23.43 percent of the total population in Indonesia.
As part of its efforts to reduce poverty, the government has launched various programs, including social assistance programs.
According to Minister of National Development Planning/Head of Bappenas Bambang Brodjonegoro, the integration of the poverty reduction and social assistance programs, which are on target, is the key to reducing poverty.
"The point is our ability to integrate the programs. For me, the more the aid is on target, the easier it will be for us to reduce poverty. Hence, the key is to integrate the program on target," Brodjonegoro noted when contacted by Antara in Jakarta on Wednesday (Jan 3).
Brodjonegoro stated that the government currently has several poverty reduction programs, such as the Family of Hope Program; rice assistance for poor families, which is currently channeled in a non-cash form; Smart Indonesia Cards; and Healthy Indonesia Cards.
Especially in villages, the government has provided village funds and launched labor intensive programs. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani had remarked last month that the village funds were provided by the government to improve the welfare of the rural communities.
"As much as 30 percent of the funds rolled out to each village are utilized to employ the local people who have no jobs," she had stated in Magelang on Saturday (Dec 16).
Starting from 2018, the minister noted that any development work should not involve contractors from outside the village.
Mulyani requested that every development in the village should be aimed at alleviating poverty and be implemented by the local community. The goal is for the people in the village to get jobs to improve their welfare. Every project will be implemented transparently, and the community will be informed about the value of the project being carried out, such as constructing water channels, small dams, or other community facilities.
"The number of guidance providers should be multiplied, as it is them who identify those in need of training," he remarked.
Mulyani added that her side, along with the minister for disadvantaged regions, is inviting big companies to participate in building the remaining villages.
Minister Sandjojo remarked that the Rp60 trillion will be rolled out for 74,910 villages. Thus, the ban on the use of contractors from outside the village in each project aims to enable villagers to avail the village funds.
Last year, the village fund allocation was also set at Rp60 trillion. The realization of village funds in the year, ending November 11, 2017, had reached Rp59.2 trillion, which comes close to the government's target of Rp60 trillion set in the revised 2017 state budget.
"The realization of village funds until the end of this year will not reach 100 percent due to an obstacle posed in the transfer of funds from the regional general cash accounts to the village cash accounts," Director General of Balanced Finance of the Finance Ministry Boediarso Teguh Widodo had stated on Tuesday (Dec 12).***3***
(A014/INE)EDITED BY INE/H-YH(T.A014/A/BESSR/A/Yosep) 05-01-2018 17:38:2 |
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