Deputy Interior Minister Criticises Regional Heads Who Complain Rather Than Work Hard to Implement National Strategic Projects

Jakarta - Deputy Interior Minister of Indonesia, Bima Arya Sugiharto, has criticised the existence of regional heads who complain about running mandatory programmes from the central government in the form of National Strategic Projects (PSN). This was stated by Bima Arya during the Central Development Coordination Meeting (Rakorbangpus) held on Thursday (7/5/2026), broadcast on the Bappenas RI YouTube channel. “There are regional heads who are enthusiastic, but there are regional heads who choose to complain rather than sweat it out,” Bima said. However, according to Bima, there are many examples in the regions that prove PSN, if guided seriously, will revive the regional economy. “I’ll give an example from one region, Pak, coincidentally we visited there last week, Jambi City,” he said. According to Bima, Jambi Mayor Maulana has garnered development support from various parties, so the collected amount is almost equal to the regional revenue and expenditure budget. “After calculating, this is because the mayor is quite agile; the development support from everywhere totals almost the same as its own APBD, Rp2 trillion,” he stated. In addition, regions that have succeeded in improving the economy after overseeing the kitchen of the Nutrition Fulfilment Service Unit (SPPG). “Now, reports from various cities show good results, one of which I quote here,” he said. According to Bima, the success of these regions is also in line with findings from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) and the Ministry of Finance, which state that Indonesia’s economic growth is above 5 per cent.