Bappenas Advises 'Dana Desa' Spending For Basic Services

Batam, Riau Islands (Antara Bali) - The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) has advised rural administrations to spend the village fund or Dana Desa with focus on the development of basic services to villagers.

The agency's deputy of regional development Arifin Rudiyanto stated that basically the spending of the fund should be adjusted to meet the needs of the local people, but it should prioritize the development of basic services in rural areas.

"Nowadays, many village administrations prefer to build infrastructure, something that we witness everyday. We will guide them to meet the basic services first," Arifin said here on Tuesday.

He cited the example of clean water service, sanitation, roads, and small-scale energy sectors, which are crucial for rural areas.

However, it would need closer coordination with related institutions to help local administrations.

Clean water facility, for instance, would need a detailed technical design. "Cipta Karya will prepare the engineering design, and then the village administration could use the fund to build the facility with the help of villagers. It is quite complicated, but we have to do it," he remarked.

In the health sector, the Health Ministry is expected to take part in educating local people on the importance of clean water and sanitation.

Arifin noted that government would educate people to determine development priority for their own villages.

The government has also worked on cooperation with universities to help village administration to draft their development planning.

"That's what we want to do. We want to make development planning at the village level more systematic," he added.

The government in the state budget 2017 has allocated Rp60 trillion for village fund, higher than budget allocation in 2015 at Rp46.9 trillion and Rp21.7 trillion in 2014.

In 2018, budget for Dana Desa is expected to increase. (WDY)