West Sumatra Allocates 60 Percent of Funds for Rehabilitating Land Affected by Disaster

Padang (ANTARA) - The West Sumatra provincial government stated that around 60 percent of the funds for rehabilitating paddy fields affected by hydro-meteorological disasters at the end of 2025 have been allocated to farmer groups. “The province’s role is to wait for submissions from the regencies, after which the State Treasury Service Office (KPPN) transfers the funds to those groups. So far, from the total budget, about 60 percent has been transferred to the farmer groups,” said the Head of the West Sumatra Agriculture Department, Afniwirman, in Padang on Wednesday. He explained that there is Rp228 billion in funds allocated by the central government for agricultural activities, of which more than Rp32 billion is specifically budgeted for rehabilitating lightly and moderately damaged paddy fields. “Those APBN funds are not transferred to the regions but remain in the state treasury, so the mechanism involves work units,” he said. Meanwhile, the relevant department heads in the province act only as budget user representatives (KPA), while the commitment-making officials (PPK) are in the affected regencies and cities. The funds are not held in regional banks but at the KPPN. Furthermore, the implementation of the activities is self-managed based on central government recommendations. Thus, communities with affected land can receive funds from the provided budget ahead of making their land productive again. “This means it is carried out by farmer groups, where the process begins with candidate farmers and candidate locations (CPCL). So, individual lands are aggregated into group lands, followed by a cooperation agreement,” he said. This is also accompanied by a decree, location determination, and so on. Then, once the process at the regency level is complete, the regency submits a request for fund disbursement to the province. “The KPA conducts verification. If complete, a fund disbursement order letter (SP2D) is issued to the KPPN. Once verification at the KPPN is finished, they transfer the funds to the relevant farmer group’s account,” he added. According to him, the affected area that submitted the disbursement request first was Solok Regency, which experienced light damage over 1,247 hectares (Ha). In fact, as of 12 February 2026, around Rp112 million has been transferred to the farmer group accounts carrying out the agricultural land rehabilitation. Based on data on land damage due to hydro-meteorological disasters at the end of 2025 in West Sumatra, he detailed that there are 2,802 Ha of lightly damaged land and 1,100 Ha of moderately damaged land. “For the budget, light damage is multiplied by Rp4.6 million, while moderate damage by Rp13.5 million,” he said. However, for farmer groups managing funds exceeding Rp100 million, according to regulations, only 70 percent can be transferred, with the remainder provided once their land rehabilitation is complete.