North Sumatra Governor Bobby Nasution Firmly Rejects Mark-Up Projects

North Sumatra Governor Bobby Afif Nasution says he refused to sign a number of project submissions from the Regional Apparatus Organisations (OPD) of the North Sumatra Provincial Government that were deemed illogical and seemingly marked up. Since his declaration of victory in the North Sumatra gubernatorial election by the General Elections Commission (KPU) some time ago, many parties have begun approaching him, attempting to push through various projects by seeking his approval.

However, several of the submissions angered him because the project documents reportedly landed on his desk for signing without any prior public briefing. ‘Some people came to congratulate me, then asked for my signature. I asked, what is this project? Why is it suddenly on my desk?’ Nasution said in a statement.

One project highlighted by Nasution was the physical construction of a building with an estimated budget of Rp 484 billion. He said the project had never been presented in detail, neither the construction concept nor the budget breakdown. ‘The building was never explained, never publicised, yet they asked for it to be signed. The value runs into hundreds of billions. I rejected it,’ he said.

Nasution stressed that he would not approve projects without a clear audit trail, and that budgets that appear inflated must be scrutinised more tightly to prevent waste or games with projects within the North Sumatra provincial government. ‘I do not want to sign if the process is not clear. Everything must be transparent and sensible,’ he asserted.

His stance sends a hard signal to OPD within the provincial government to stop submitting projects that appear questionable or rely solely on political proximity to obtain budget approval. According to Nasution, every development programme must genuinely benefit the public, not merely exhaust regional funds.