Sherly Proposes Changes to General Allocation Fund Formula

North Maluku Governor Sherly Tjoanda has proposed changes to the formula for distributing the General Allocation Fund (DAU). She said the proposal was prompted by the fact that the province’s strong economic growth had not been matched by equivalent growth in its Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD).

“Economic growth in 2025 was 34 per cent. According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data, we have around 975 islands and a population of about 1.4 million, but the question is always why high economic growth does not correspond to growth in the APBD,” Sherly said at the Forum Senator Menyapa discussion with CNN Indonesia at the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta on Thursday (5 November).

She said North Maluku had tangible needs. In agriculture, for example, she said farmers’ terms of trade remained low compared with those in neighbouring countries. Farmers needed several forms of support to reduce their logistics costs.

“In agriculture, our farmers need farm roads and bridges, as well as access to markets, so that logistics costs are lower,” Sherly said.

In fisheries, she said, fishers needed ports, electricity and cold-storage facilities to preserve their catch so they could sell it the following day.

“We need cold storage so that the fish do not have to be sold all at once on the same day at a low price,” she said.

Education, she added, required accessible, affordable and high-quality services. Healthcare, meanwhile, needed basic infrastructure, including clean water, electricity and telecommunications signal coverage.