WB, govt set performance measures for regions<\/p>\n
Riyadi Suparno, The Jakarta Post, Kuta, Bali<\/p>\n
Representatives of two multilateral lending institutions, a
\nbilateral lending agency and a non-governmental organization
\n(NGO) came to a municipality at the same time, and asked the
\nmayor and his subordinates very similar questions that the they
\nfound rather annoying.<\/p>\n
The lending institutions wanted to do an appraisal to see if
\nthe municipality was eligible for their funding, including
\nmatters related to financial accountability. Without reliable
\ndata and information on the real condition in municipalities and
\nregencies nationwide, the institutions had no choice but to go
\ndirectly to local governments.<\/p>\n
Such difficulties were revealed by World Bank representatives,
\nand working together with the Ministry of Home Affairs, they
\ndesigned a standardized measurement for local government
\nperformance, particularly in public financial management.<\/p>\n
\"A very simple set of standardized indicators measuring the
\nperformance of all local governments, and made available to the
\npublic, would do a great service to Indonesia's decentralization
\nprocess,\" Wolfgang Fengler, senior economist at the World Bank
\noffice in Jakarta, said here on Monday.<\/p>\n
The results of the measurements then could be used by all
\nrelevant institutions for their own purposes, including lending
\ninstitutions, NGOs, the central government, and even local people
\nto assess their leaders.<\/p>\n
\"This would allow all stakeholders, particularly the voters in
\nthe municipalities and regencies, to assess their elected
\nofficials,\" Fengler added.<\/p>\n
Director general for regional finance administration at the
\nhome affairs ministry Daeng Mochamad Nazier concurred, saying his
\noffice would use results of the performance measurement to design
\nan intervention program to assist weak local governments improve
\ntheir capacity to manage their finances.<\/p>\n
\"We do want to help those weak local governments. But to help
\nthem, we need to know which regions still need our help, and
\nwhich regions are already strong in their financial management,
\nwho might be able to help the weak regions,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has pursued a major decentralization process, which
\nthe World Bank termed as a \"big bang\", since the 2001, and yet
\nthere has been no single unified measure of local government
\nperformance to ascertain whether the current process of
\ndecentralization has achieved its desired goals and outcomes.<\/p>\n
A number of institutions such as the World Bank and the Asia
\nFoundation have conducted surveys at selected local governments
\non issues related to decentralization. Yet, they are far from
\nenough to present the real situation following decentralization.<\/p>\n
The measurement framework that is being developed by the World
\nBank, however, will only focus on local government's financial
\nmanagement.<\/p>\n
The argument of focusing on financial management is that the
\ndecentralization has shifted significant amounts of public money
\nfrom the center to local governments.<\/p>\n
Currently, local governments spend around 30 percent of all
\npublic monies, and yet there is no measure, and thus no
\ninformation, on how this fiscal decentralization is being
\nactually managed locally.<\/p>\n
Rajiv Sondhi, senior financial management specialist at the
\nWorld Bank office in Jakarta, explained that public financial
\nmanagement measurement was developed based on similar experiences
\nin other countries, especially those in Pakistan and Uganda.<\/p>\n
The measurement framework tries to access local governments'
\nperformance in nine key areas of public financial management,
\nstarting from local regulatory framework, planning and budgeting
\nto cash management, procurement, accounting and reporting,
\ninternal audit, public debt and investment, asset management and
\nexternal audit.<\/p>\n
From the nine areas, the World Bank developed 27 key outcome
\nindicators, each of which is further elaborated into detailed
\nindicators.<\/p>\n
The World Bank tested the performance measurement in two local
\ngovernments, i.e. Blitar municipality in East Java and Sleman
\nregency in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Home Affairs then tested the financial
\nperformance measures in six other regencies and two
\nmunicipalities in Java, Sulawesi and Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
\"Results vary among the eight local governments. Some of them
\nhave no regulations or systems in place, especially in public
\ndebt and investment. But others are already advanced,\" Daeng
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Whatever the results, this is the kind of information we need
\nbefore we can design intervention measures for them to improve
\ntheir financial management.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/wb-govt-set-performance-measures-for-regions-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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