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Alleged corruption hampers use of village funds
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Shoulder the load: Farmers carry stalks of paddy to a milling factory in Ngawi, East Java, on Oct. 13. (Antara/Ari Bowo Sucipto)
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lleged corruption related to the use of village funds has hampered the absorption of the funds in Malang, East Java, according to reports.
“We are afraid that the use of village funds will lead to legal problems,” said Bambang Hariarso, head of Telekung village in Batu, Malang, on Monday.
“We are still confused about technical matters related to the use of village funds that should be in line with existing regulations [...].”
Village Funds task force head Bibit Samad Riyanto said his institution had received 30 complaints on village fund irregularities and misuses.
He said three main problems had been identified in the monitoring of village funds, namely delayed disbursement, the misuse of funds and irregularities.
These problems were reportedly caused by non-synchronized regulations, technical problems and intentional irregularities by village fund administrators, among others.
“We had seen some weaknesses in every stage of the implementation of village funds, starting from planning to reporting activities. There are worries among village apparatuses that incautious implementation of village funds may have legal impacts. Hence, there should be training programs on technical matters that village leaders should pay attention to in using the funds,” said Bibit on Monday.
He further said the government would impose tough sanctions on any of the alleged irregularities. “This can be traced from programs and fund disbursement plans in each village,” said Bibit. (yon/ebf)
