Supervising Weak Village Establishment

Villages established using problematic procedures in Konawe, Southeast Sulawesi, are still receiving the village funds. Supervision over establishing villages must be heightened.

KOMPAS/SAIFUL RIJAL YUNUS

A Lambuya district official points to Meraka village on a chart listing the district’s villages and village heads on Wednesday (6/11/2019). The village funds registry lists the nonexistent Ulu Meraka village.

KENDARI, KOMPAS -- The investigation is still ongoing into the legality of 101 villages that are receiving the village funds in Konawe regency, Southeast Sulawesi. If each village receives Rp 700 million (US$49.778) per year in funding, then hundreds of billions of rupiah have been disbursed to these villages since 2017.

As previously reported, 117 villages in Konawe were established under three regional regulations issued between 2011 and 2014. However, these regulations are alleged to be problematic, as they are either not registered at the regional legislation body or were issued after the government imposed a moratorium on establishing new villages. Sixteen villages are duplicated across two separate regional regulations, so the final total of irregularly established villages is 101 (Kompas, 12/11/2019).