Village Funds thwarted by KKB Papua

Through the steep road. Forests and Hills. Village heads in Papua are willing to take village fund transfers from the central government. Not infrequently, his efforts are life threatening.

The Armed Criminal Group (KKB) led by Egianus Kogoya saw this opportunity. The hundreds of millions of village funds taken by the village head for the welfare of the community are their targets. They want the funds for KKB operations. Including buying weapons against the authorities.

KKB knows exactly the schedule for collecting village funds. They have also mapped out the usual route. The route is outside the radar of the security forces.

"Usually they know the schedules that are dropped, there are good leaks. Then they wait at certain points. Then later after the village head has been taken, they will be executed there," explained the former Papuan Police Chief, Komjen Pol (Ret.) Paulus Waterpau when chat with merdeka.com, last week.

The road contour in Papua is winding. Sometimes village heads have to take public transportation, walk tens of kilometers to collect village funds. This condition is used by KKB to rob.

But there are other findings. There is a village head who deliberately provides village funds for KKB operations. For a number of reasons. One of them is because of his kinship with the fugitives of the police.

"They have a family relationship, yes, family. So they help their brothers and sisters," Paul added.

The KKB method of robbing village funds has been detected since 2019. Until now, it is still being carried out. Most recently, the culprit has been caught. It started with the arrest of Paniel Kogoya (41). He is a suspect for supplying KKB weapons in Intan Jaya.

Unmitigated, they threatened each village head to deposit Rp1 billion.

Paniel Kogoya spent Rp1.1 billion to buy four firearms for the KKB led by Egianus Kogoya.

"The funds to buy the firearms were obtained from Ges Gwijangge, a member of the Egianus Kogoya group, which came from looting, robbery and extortion of tribal chiefs and village funds in each village," said Head of the Nemangkawi Public Relations Task Force, Kombes Iqbal Alqudusy.

According to data from the Ministry of Finance, in Intan Jaya Regency there are 97 villages that receive village funds. In 2019, the Ministry of Villages disbursed Rp 136 billion. Meanwhile, in 2020, Intan Jaya Regency received an allocation of village funds of Rp. 143 billion.

At the end of 2019, the National Police Headquarters revealed a leaflet from the KKB. In its content, KKB asked village heads to prepare village funds for the needs of their groups.

The Director of General Crimes of the Papua Regional Police (Polda), Kombes Faizal Rahmadani, is currently conducting an investigation into the use of village funds for the benefit of the KKB. Especially in the Bintang Mountains Regency, Papua Province.

From the statements of the perpetrators, village funds were collected from several village heads in the Bintang Mountains to buy weapons from Papua New Guinea (PNG).

"But this is just a one-sided statement like that, and maybe later another directorate will explore more," said Faizal.

The village funds collected were used to buy 20 weapons. In contrast to Intan Jaya, in the Bintang Mountains it is led by the Lamek Taplo group.

Of the 20 weapons, eight of them have been secured by the authorities. Five Weapons were secured by the Korem in the Batom area. Three other weapons were secured by the Regional Police in Sentani.

"50 Million sent to PNG to buy about 20 guns."

In the Bintang Mountains, the Ministry of Finance allocated Rp253 billion for 277 villages per year in 2019. Meanwhile, for 2020, the Bintang Mountains Regency received an allocation of village funds of Rp265 billion.

Information about village funds flowing to KKB, apparently has not yet reached the ears of the government. The Ministry of Villages has also never received reports from village heads in Papua and West Papua regarding the KKB's actions to steal village funds.

"Ministry of Village PDTT has not received official information from related parties regarding this matter," the Director General of Village and Rural Development of the Ministry of Villages and Transmigration Sugito said briefly when confirmed.

Three-way money with the Ministry of Villages. The Head of the Information Center (Kapuspen) of the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) Benni Irwan also did not know about the alleged village funds flowing to separatist groups. The Ministry of Home Affairs only emphasizes that the use of village funds cannot be arbitrary.

Village funds have been regulated in Law Number 6 of 2014 concerning Villages. The goal is to protect and empower villages to be strong, advanced, independent, and democratic. Improving the quality of development planning and budgeting at the village level and empowering village communities.

Village funds are sourced from the APBN which is intended for villages which are transferred through the Regency/City Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget and are used to finance government administration, development implementation, community development, and community empowerment.

Papua Village Fund Allotment

Data from the Ministry of Villages, Papua Province received an allocation of village funds of more than IDR 5 trillion. For 5,411 villages. Meanwhile, West Papua Province received an allocation of IDR 1.5 trillion for 1,742 villages.

From this data, the Director General of Village and Rural Development of the Ministry of Villages, PDT and Transmigration, Sugito explained. On average, one village in Papua Province gets a share of Rp. 1 billion. Meanwhile, one village in West Papua Province received an allocation of Rp. 890 million.

The Head of Mpunisen Village, Biak Numfor Regency, Marthen Rumbarar, shared his story. The use of village (village) funds refers to the results of village meetings. Determined posts that are mutually agreed upon by following the reference from the local government. But there are also special policies that are agreed upon through the existing program in the village.

For example, infrastructure development, women's empowerment, education, village apparatus trips, village apparatus allowances, posyandu cadres honors, Binmas honors. This includes honorary teachers who are asked by the community to teach at local elementary schools. Procurement of infrastructure in the form of Veiber boats (speedboats) and outboard motors (Johnson).

Village funds are also used to finance education from an early age to college. There are also religious posts related to services and development. Such as the construction of houses of worship and houses of priests or pastors to the honorarium for church services.

"So far, regarding the existence of village funds, we have received information from district assistants or village assistants regarding village funds already in the local government. So we immediately held village deliberation meetings by adjusting the available funding ceiling," said Marthen Rumbarar.

During his leadership, every year he managed village funds of less than IDR 1 billion. About seven hundred million rupiah. With a disbursement system of 40 percent in the first phase, 40 percent in the second phase, and finally 20 percent.

The Head of the Information Center (Kapuspen) of the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) Benni Irwan emphasized that village funds were not only the responsibility of the Ministry of Home Affairs. But it involves a number of ministries. Including the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Villages.

The task of the Ministry of Home Affairs is specifically to develop village government officials. Specifically regarding village financial management. Benny explained that village finances did not only come from village funds. There are seven sources of village income. Village funds are only one of them.

"In this case, the Ministry of Home Affairs prepares regulations on village financial management, and the Minister of Home Affairs is born. Then prepares training and technical guidance for village governments," said Benny.

Meanwhile, the regulation on the use of village funds is specifically carried out by the Ministry of Finance. Including the allocation and disbursement mechanism of funds. Starting from the APBN down to the APBD and then to the APBDes. The Ministry of Villages is tasked with setting priorities for use.

There is a mechanism for using village funds. For example, it must involve the community and be supervised by village officials. As a form of transparency, there are also villages that make large banners in reports on the use of village funds.

Benni added about the limitation on the use of village funds. Even though there is a need, village funds cannot be used for interests outside the village.

The Ministry of Home Affairs did not turn a blind eye. The management of village funds did not fully go according to plan. There are only a number of cases that violate the rules. This is partly because of the different backgrounds of village heads.

He cited studies conducted by a number of institutions. Including the World Bank. Based on this study, quite a number of villages in Indonesia, including in Papua, manage their finances well. But there are also villages that need more intense assistance. The Ministry of Home Affairs is aware of limitations in managing village finances. Including human resources in the village government.

"Some are undergraduates, some are only high school and junior high school graduates, some don't graduate from high school to middle school. That's the condition," said Benni.

SOURCE: https://www.merdeka.com/khas/dana-desa-dibegal-kkb-papua.html