Ternate, N Maluku (ANTARA) - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has asked regional governments in the North Maluku province to develop their own programs to optimize local potentials, instead of simply implementing programs initiated by the central government.
“To advance the village economy, village assistants should map the potentials of local superior commodities along with the communities,” he said at a seminar on “Strengthening Development and Empowerment of Village Communities to Realize Zero Stunting and Extreme Poverty in Indonesia.”
At the seminar held here on Friday, he also asked village assistants to help the community in developing business planning, seeking off-takers, and improving the marketing of products. North Maluku province has various economic potentials, including fisheries, forest products, and agricultural crops, Amin noted. If these potentials are developed well, they will contribute to improving the welfare of the whole community, including those in remote villages, he added.
He asked local governments to optimize the social capital that has been developed in each village to support the establishment of village-owned enterprises (BUMDesa). “I heard that a number of BUMDesa have developed in North Maluku with various business sectors. Keep being innovative and creative in optimizing these economic opportunities," Amin remarked.
He noted that although various development targets have been achieved since Indonesia’s proclamation of its independence in 1945, there are still a number of issues that need to be resolved, including underdevelopment in some villages.
To address these issues, the government issued Law Number 6 of 2014 concerning Villages, which mandated the provision of village funds and village assistants to help expedite the development of villages, he informed.
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The vice president said that villages have a strategic role in national development, thus strengthening the villages’ role could also increase the welfare of the people. The issuance of the law also reflects the central government’s trust in the village administration that they can manage local community development and empowerment by themselves, he added.
Amin said that the increasing trend of allocations of Village Fund assistance has shown that the government is committed to village development. The government has allocated more than Rp500 trillion (Rp33.7 billion) in village funds in the period from 2015 to 2023, with the average absorption exceeding 98 percent in each budget year, he informed. The disbursement of the fund assistance aims to improve infrastructure in rural areas, develop village economic potentials, as well as bolster basic social services, he added.