West Lombok Regent Allows Audit of Rp 20 Billion Masaro Project

The Regent of West Lombok, Lalu Ahmad Zaini (LAZ), has permitted the auditing of the Zero Waste Management (Masaro) project worth Rp 20 billion. It is known that the Masaro waste processing machine in Senteluk Village, Batu Layar Subdistrict, West Lombok, has broken down again after being repaired since 7 March. “Go ahead (with the audit),” said LAZ on Wednesday (8/4/2026). LAZ expressed gratitude if various shortcomings of Masaro are revealed based on the audit results. According to him, this is important so that the provider takes responsibility while the warranty is still active until the end of 2026. “This is still their (the provider’s) responsibility, and the more shortcomings there are, the better. It’s better that the shortcomings are discovered now rather than later,” he added. LAZ refrained from commenting further while the provider remains responsible for the suboptimal performance of the Masaro project. On the other hand, LAZ has not yet prepared specific steps to address the damage or shortcomings of the waste processing machine project. Nevertheless, LAZ stated that the West Lombok Regency Government continues to strive to optimise waste processing using Masaro. He has also written to the provider to perfect Masaro according to the initial concept. “It’s still running now. We have written to the provider to perfect the initial concept,” he concluded. Council Demands Audit of Masaro Project Previously, the Chair of Commission III of the West Lombok DPRD, Fauzi, requested the Inspectorate to audit the two Masaro projects owned by the West Lombok Regency Government. Fauzi mentioned irregularities in the Rp 20 billion Masaro project. “Actually, this is already obvious,” said Fauzi on Thursday (2/4). “We are waiting for the performance of the Inspectorate. Is it true that this (Masaro) is a new machine, but it’s in this condition?” he added. Fauzi explained several irregularities found in the Masaro project. Among them is the issue of using the Unforeseen Expenditure Budget (BTT) amounting to around Rp 21 billion to build Masaro. According to Fauzi, the BTT budget should be allocated for handling emergencies or disasters. He also questioned the emergency reasons used to build Masaro. “I myself only found out today about the 2025 BTT budget that was shifted to Masaro,” added the PKB politician. Fauzi also discovered that the Masaro machine is assembled and its spare parts do not come from a single manufacturer. He then doubted the validity of the e-catalogue that uses a custom system for the waste processing machine. He also regretted the large budget spent by the West Lombok Regency Government both in the construction process and operations of Masaro. Because the machine is unable to work maximally and even breaks down. Not to mention the electricity costs reaching Rp 50 million per month.