East Java DPRD visits West Java DPRD to learn how provincial budget funds village roads

Bandung (ANTARA) - Commission A of the East Java DPRD visited Commission I of the West Java DPRD to consult on legal loopholes and breakthroughs that enable the provincial budget to directly intervene in village road construction.

This step was taken by the East Java side after the financial assistance scheme for infrastructure under the leadership of West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi was deemed successful in surpassing traditional regulatory authority boundaries.

Member of Commission I of the West Java DPRD, Muhamad Sidkon Dj, in Bandung on Wednesday, revealed that his counterparts from East Java were interested in delving into the legality behind the policy, as village road development has often been hampered by rigid authority limitations between villages, regencies, and provinces.

“Commission A of the East Java DPRD visited here because they were inspired by several programmes, infrastructure development, and village empowerment from West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi,” said Sidkon.

The main focus of the consultation that took place on Tuesday (7/4) was on the mechanism of provincial financial assistance that now reaches the core of village transportation.

The East Java side questioned the validity of the procedures up to the maximum budget limits that can be allocated to avoid violating regulations.

“Well, Commission A of the East Java DPRD questioned that, is it true? They asked about the maximum amount of assistance, what the procedures are like, what the legal standing is like, and so on,” said Sidkon.

In response to this curiosity, Sidkon explained that the key to this policy does not lie in the Regional Regulation, but in the West Java Governor’s Regulation (Pergub) No. 22 of 2025.

This regulation is based on adjustments to Law No. 2 of 2022 on the second amendment to Law No. 38 of 2004 on Roads.

“In that regulation, there is apparently a loophole that allows the West Java Provincial Budget to intervene in village road needs, to repair roads in villages,” said Sidkon.

West Java’s success in utilising this regulatory loophole is predicted to become a new blueprint for other local governments in accelerating infrastructure equity at the grassroots level without being hindered by authority bureaucracy.