THE EDITOR – Minister of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions Yandri Susanto has taken the initiative to make villages the spearhead of national development. During the launching of the Village Technical Capacity Building Provider (P2KTD) Training Platform at the Balai Bengkulu, Bengkulu, Yandri requested that regional governments participate in realising this programme.
“The village is the spearhead of our development. That’s why the Ministry’s current tagline is: Build Villages, Build Indonesia. So, if we build villages, we will automatically build Indonesia,” he said.
In order to achieve this, the Indonesian government, in collaboration with the World Bank, created the Strengthening Village Governance and Development Programme (P3PD). There are five ministries mandated to run this programme, namely the Ministry of Villages and Development of Disadvantagrd Regions, Ministry of Home Affairs, Coodinating Ministry for Human Development and Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of National Development Planning.
This programme is to make quality village expenditure in accordance with community competencies.
On that occasion, Minister Yandri invited all village heads to work together to involve residents in deciding village development policies, for example through village meetings. Public hearings like this allow everyone to talk about their experiences, concerns, and hopes.
“HAPPY VILLAGE” PROGRAMME BECOMES P3PD’S MAINSTAY
On the other hand, to advance the village, the Directorate General of Village Administration (Bina Pemdes) of the Ministry of Home Affairs conducts training for village officials through the P3PD programme.
This training is provided so that village officials are able to encourage the efficiency and effectiveness of village fund management and are able to strengthen institutional capacity and accountability systems that will lead to improved quality of spending at the village level.
“We want to ensure that every village apparatus has the ability to run the government, plan sustainable development, and of course, maintain integrity in carrying out their duties. Thus, villages in Indonesia can achieve the expected independence and prosperity,” said Director General of Bina Pemdes La Ode Ahmad P Bolombo.
VILLAGE OFFICIALS PARTICIPATING IN P3PD TRAINING, COMMUNITIES ARE NO LONGER MERE SPECTATORS WHEN INVESTORS COME IN
Sambirejo Village Head Wahyu Nugroho told The Editor that he managed to develop a spatial design through a digitalised village boundary map system after attending P3PD training at the end of 2023.
With this design, he continued, his villagers are no longer just spectators when investors come in as he managed to develop a new spatial design that involves the community in village development.
“After the P3PD training, I coordinated with the head of the neighboring village to map the boundaries that we would later digitize,” he said.
He admits that this method had never occurred to him before. Because of the P3PD training, he added, his village will soon have a digital village boundary map.
“We know the geographical conditions. When we know the area, we also know the condition of the land whether it is suitable for livestock, agriculture, tourism and so on,” Wahyu said.
Not only that, from the P3PD training, Wahyu also plans to compile data on investors who want to enter Sambirejo Village.
