NTB Council Reprimands Public Works Agency Over IDR 11 Billion Overpayment

The West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) has highlighted findings from the 2025 Audit Board of Indonesia (BPK) report concerning the Public Works and Public Housing Agency (PU Perkim), which revealed overpayments totalling almost IDR 11 billion. The findings stem from excess payments made to several contractors. Of the IDR 11 billion, only around IDR 1 billion has been resolved, leaving approximately 98 percent of the amount still unaddressed. Sudirsah Sujanto, Deputy Chairman of Commission IV of the NTB DPRD, stated that this significant BPK finding is a critical issue that the PU Perkim Agency must resolve immediately, as the overpayments for several projects remain unsettled. ‘The BPK findings at the Public Works Agency are quite large, almost IDR 11 billion. However, as of now, only IDR 1 billion has been resolved. That means roughly 98 percent is still outstanding,’ Sudirsah said during a Hearing Meeting at the NTB DPRD. The Gerindra Party politician from the West Lombok-North Lombok electoral district explained that the largest accumulation of findings is in the infrastructure sector, particularly within the road maintenance technical implementation units. ‘The majority are at the road maintenance offices, both in the Lombok and Sumbawa regions. That is the biggest portion. This also includes the Lenangguar-Lunyuk road project, which still leaves a less than favourable impression,’ Sudirsah said. He explained that most of the IDR 11 billion in findings originated from overpayment cases to project contractors, covering road maintenance works and physical building construction. Although the administrative and physical errors lie with the contractors, Sudirsah reminded that the institutional responsibility for resolution remains with the agency, as the documents were officially signed on behalf of the institution. ‘The findings are with the third parties, the contractors. The agency is currently pursuing collection from these contractors so they will promptly return the excess payments,’ he clarified. The NTB DPRD issued a stern warning to the Head of the PU Perkim Agency to utilise the remaining time before the deadline for recovering the regional losses expires. According to regulations, the government has 60 days from the submission of the BPK report to follow up on the findings. ‘We are still in the process and there is still time for repayment, about one month left from the total 60 days given. We firmly request the Head of the Agency to resolve this immediately to avoid any legal issues in the future,’ Sudirsah stressed. Commission IV of the NTB DPRD has requested that these findings serve as material for a comprehensive evaluation of the agency’s internal performance, especially in the divisions that contributed the highest figures. ‘We ask the Head of the Agency to immediately conduct a total evaluation of the infrastructure, road maintenance, and building construction sectors so that such supervisory weaknesses do not recur in the future,’ he emphasised. Head of the NTB PUPR and Public Housing Agency, Lalu Wijaya Kusuma, acknowledged the findings. He confirmed that efforts are underway to pursue the recovery of regional losses from the project partners. He noted that the overpayments were predominantly caused by negligence on the part of third parties. His office has instructed all internal technical teams to move quickly and intensively collect the debts from the contractors. ‘Yes, many third parties are involved, and we have asked our internal colleagues to collect immediately. We have about 30 days left, if I am not mistaken. We will collect with all our might, as optimally as we can,’ Lalu Wijaya Kusuma said after the meeting. Wijaya mentioned that the findings are actually spread across several sectors, but the largest portion is in the Highways division, which handles road infrastructure on the islands of Lombok and Sumbawa. ‘That is also our special attention now in the Highways division. Hopefully, our colleagues in the field can push for a quick resolution,’ Wijaya concluded.