TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Reydonnyzar, director general for regional finance at the Home Affairs Ministry, said his ministry had trimmed several regional budget posts to save regional budget up to billions of rupiahs.
“The trimmed posts were the ineffective ones and tended to become waste and duplication,” said Reydonnyzar on Tuesday.
Some slashed budget posts were domestic and foreign trips, food and drink, financial expenditure, DPRD expenditure, provincial financial aid to regencies, regional performance benefits and social aid.
According to Donny, budget waste was found in almost all provinces. He found budget inefficiency in poor regions that receive aid from the central government. Regional officials assisted by the central government tend to waste budget. “If they have earnings that they make with great effort, surely they will spend their budget efficiently,” sahd Donny.
West Sumatera regional secretary Ali Asmar voiced no objection towards the trimmed budget because regional government only conduct official trip if it is urgent. He added that budget can be saved by using government buildings and renting hotels only for meetings with large audiences.
Subang Regent Ojang Sohando echoed Ali’s statement, saying that the removal of social aid is fine if it is for the good of everyone. However, he will still wait for official regulation from the central government and maintain social aid funds in 2015 budget because he already decided on their recipients.
Indonesia Budget Center researcher Roy Salam said regional officials often use budget for their own personal interests. Budget posts such as social aid and financial aid are often misappropriated. “People have only known about social aid fund because other they never received benefits from other budget posts,” he said.
TIKA PRIMANDARI | ANDRI EL FARUQI (PADANG) | NANANG SUTISNA (SUBANG)
