Wages of Village Funds Do not Exceed UMR

By : Herry Barus And Aldo Bella Putra | Saturday, January 27 2018 - 17:00 IWST

Mantan Menteri Keuangan Chatib Basri (Foto Ist)

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta - The economist who is also former Finance Minister Chatib Basri says the wage of the village's "cash for work" program does not exceed the regional minimum wage (UMR) to avoid shifting jobs in the community.

"If you want to help the poor through the village funds, the wages should not be above the minimum wage because later people who have been able to stop work and join the project 'cash for work'," Chatib said after the launch of the Bureau of Economic Research / IBER) in Jakarta, Friday (25/1/2018)

The village fund this year has a "cash for work" program by allocating 30 percent to pay the wages of villagers involved in village fund projects.

"It's a dilemma, really helping the poor but being stingy, but if it's not cheap, people who have a job move, so I think help with a wage below the minimum wage," said Chatib.

In addition, he also said that villagers who receive funds need facilitators to assist in the formulation of development projects using village funds.

"Cash for work" should be combined with what was formerly called PNPM (National Community Empowerment Program) for facilitators to exist, because making the project is not easy, let alone the money needs to be accounted for," said Chatib.

Previously, Director General of Fiscal Balance at the Ministry of Finance Boediarso in Klecorejo Village, Mejayan Sub-district, Madiun District, East Java, Thursday (18/1), said there are 93 regions that are eligible for disbursement of village funds one phase out of 434 regions.

"As many as 93 of these areas have met the requirements," he said. "Currently, in the second week of January 2018, the allocation of 20 percent of the first phase of village funds in the area is already liquid."

The national funding allocation for this year is Rp60 trillion. The amount of funds is equal to the allocation of 2017 which can be absorbed up to 99.8 percent from central to regional level.

Deputy Finance Minister Mardiasmo said the government would change the disbursement of village funds to prevent abuse, from twice to three times a year.

The disbursement format was 20 percent in January, 40 percent in March, and 40 percent in June. For the first phase of this year, the government will provide Rp12 trillion, which has already entered regional accounts to support labor-intensive activities. (Ant)