Adkasi Proposes Additional TKD to Strengthen Development in 410 Districts

Banjarmasin (ANTARA) - The Chairman of the Association of Regency Legislatures Across Indonesia (Adkasi), Siswanto, has proposed an increase in the Regional Transfer Fund (TKD) for regency governments to strengthen development in 410 regencies with low fiscal gaps.

He put forward the proposal for additional TKD in view of regional fiscal conditions after regions saw an average TKD reduction of 24.7 per cent, with some areas even experiencing cuts of up to 70 per cent in revenue-sharing funds.

According to him, strengthening the TKD is necessary so that regency governments have greater capacity to accelerate development and improve the quality of services to the public.

“Most regencies do not yet have sufficiently large own-source revenues to finance all development needs. Therefore, the TKD is an important instrument in maintaining development continuity and equalising public services,” he said.

Where the fiscal gap is low, he said, the budget available for regional development is also limited, whilst the needs of communities continue to grow, from infrastructure, health and education to other public services.

He stressed that strengthening the TKD is not only about increasing budgets, but is also part of efforts to reinforce synergy between central and regional governments in achieving national development targets.

Beyond the TKD, Siswanto expressed hope that the government would strengthen various regional revenue sources through revenue-sharing funds (DBH), such as oil and gas DBH, tobacco excise duties, plantations and other sectors, as part of efforts to enhance regional development capacity.

“We hope that upcoming budget policy discussions will pay attention to strengthening regional fiscal capacity, so that the 410 regencies with limited fiscal capacity can still accelerate development and improve the quality of services to the public,” he said.