Government Urged to Evaluate Priority Programmes for Greater Transparency
The Lingkar Pemuda Indonesia (LPI) has requested the government to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of several national priority programmes to ensure their implementation is transparent, accountable, and precisely targeted. The organisation believes that improvements in governance are necessary to ensure that programmes intended for the public do not create opportunities for budget misappropriation.
LPI National Executive Director, Akhrom Saleh, stated that every state budget allocated for strategic programmes must be managed responsibly in accordance with the principles of good governance. “Every rupiah of state funds is a public trust that must be accounted for. Therefore, budgets for strategic programmes must be managed transparently and accountably, as directed by the President,” he said in a written statement on Monday.
LPI highlighted three programmes that have recently drawn public attention: the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme, the construction of ‘Sekolah Rakyat’ (People’s Schools), and the training of prospective managers for the Merah Putih Village/Sub-district Cooperatives (Kopdes). Regarding the Free Nutritious Meal programme, the organisation requested that law enforcement agencies investigate allegations of irregularities in the programme’s management. According to Akhrom, if there are indications of legal violations, law enforcement must be conducted objectively and without discrimination.
Furthermore, LPI is encouraging an investigative audit into the implementation of the ‘Sekolah Rakyat’ programme. They believe that issues regarding alleged budget markups or problems with payments to third parties need to be explained openly to prevent speculation within the community.
Additionally, LPI highlighted the implementation of training for prospective managers of the Merah Putih Village Cooperatives following reports of several participants passing away during the activities. The organisation has asked the government to evaluate training methods to ensure they better align with the required managerial and entrepreneurial competencies.
Akhrom emphasised that LPI fundamentally supports various government priority programmes aimed at improving public welfare. However, he noted that the success of these programmes depends heavily on professional, transparent governance that is free from practices of budget misuse. “Therefore, LPI asks the government to strengthen supervision of all national priority programmes while taking action against parties proven to have exploited these programmes for personal or group interests,” he asserted.
Akhrom maintained that all government policies must ultimately remain oriented towards the interests of the wider public and provide tangible benefits for the improvement of people’s welfare.