Senator Dayat El: Oversight of Village Funds Must Be Strengthened

Senator Dayat El, a member of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) from South Kalimantan (Kalimantan Selatan), met with the Chief Prosecutor of South Kalimantan to discuss strengthening oversight of village funds through the Jaga Desa programme on Thursday (5 March). In the meeting, Dayat El absorbed a range of inputs regarding the obstacles faced by village officials in the field. Among them were the limited capacity of village officials in using the financial reporting application, unstable internet connectivity, and the reporting application frequently experiencing disruptions as data entry deadlines approached. It was also discussed the need for clarity on the mechanism for managing village funds for Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDes) and Koperasi Merah Putih to avoid overlap in budget management. The Chief Prosecutor’s Office explained that through the Jaga Desa programme, the Attorney General’s Office continues preventive steps including socialisation to village heads and village officials regarding potential legal violations in the management of village funds. In response, Dayat El urged collaboration between the Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration, the prosecutors, and the police in carrying out mentoring and socialisation to village officials. As the regional representative for South Kalimantan, Dayat El also proposed that villages collaborate with the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (HIPMI) South Kalimantan to optimise the use of village funds in a creative, innovative, and targeted manner so as to drive the emergence of self‑reliant villages. He also encouraged collaboration on legal literacy outreach to the community involving the youth, notably through synergy with Nanang Galuh Banjarmasin, so legal understanding can be disseminated more widely and closer to young people in South Kalimantan. He believes that synergy between the Chief Prosecutor of South Kalimantan and the senator from the DPD for Kalimantan Selatan, including himself as a member of DPD Committee 1, can strengthen the monitoring and evaluation process for village fund use, so that field constraints can feed into policy improvements for village communities.