Village Minister affirms that village funds are not being cut

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Minister of Villages and Underdeveloped Regions (Mendes PDT) Yandri Susanto has affirmed that village funds are not being cut by the central government.

“So, (village funds) are not taken by the centre. President Prabowo or the Village Minister has never taken village funds, no,” said Minister Yandri, quoted in Jakarta on Monday.

He explained that the government is only changing the governance and utilisation of village funds to make them more measurable and directly impactful for the community.

“The governance is changed, business units are created whose function is to eliminate moneylenders, abolish middlemen, become off-takers, distribute fertiliser, gas, and so on,” he said.

He made this statement during a visit to the Merah Putih Bubung Village Cooperative (Kopdes), South Luwuk Subdistrict, Banggai Regency, Central Sulawesi. Minister Yandri also emphasised that information claiming village funds are being cut by the central government is untrue. According to him, the government is instead strengthening the governance of village funds to make it more extensive, directed, and provide broader economic benefits.

“So this (Kopdes) is a noble programme, so if anyone says village funds are being cut by the centre, no. The governance is made more extensive, more abundant, and more measurable,” he said.

According to him, economic equalisation needs to be carried out to prevent disparities. He assessed that Kopdes Merah Putih is the right tool to achieve economic equalisation. Therefore, he proposed halting new permits for other modern retail outlets because their function will be replaced by Kopdes Merah Putih.

Minister Yandri also invited all village communities to actively participate and succeed Kopdes Merah Putih. According to him, if the cooperative succeeds, 80 percent of the remaining business profits will return to cooperative members, namely the village community. In addition, 20 percent of the cooperative’s profits will become original village income.