Deputy Home Minister pushes for APBN-funded SKPD office construction in four new Papua autonomous regions

The construction of government office complexes in the new autonomous regions (DOB) of Papua continues to face challenges due to relatively limited local budget capacity (APBD).

Deputy Home Minister Ribka Haluk is therefore encouraging that the development of regional work unit (SKPD) offices in the four new autonomous regions in Tanah Papua be supported by the State Budget (APBN).

“The Ministry of Home Affairs is pushing for the construction of SKPD offices to also be supported by the APBN. Currently, it is in the negotiation stage with Commission II of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI),” she stated in a press release received in Jayapura on Thursday.

Ribka expressed hope that President Prabowo Subianto would approve the additional APBN allocation for the construction of SKPD offices in the Papua DOBs. “We have also written to the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) regarding the construction of SKPD offices,” she added.

South Papua Governor Apolo Safanpo explained that the construction of SKPD offices has not yet been carried out due to budget efficiency policies, particularly concerning the General Allocation Fund (DAU). “Furthermore, the special autonomy (otsus) funds also cannot be used to finance the construction of SKPD offices,” he said. He expressed hope that the budget efficiency measures, especially for the DAU allocated to the DOBs, could be reconsidered so that the development of the central government area can proceed smoothly.