FR. The Provincial Government of Riau consistently allocates a budget to build infrastructure, which is not a priority at all, nor is it their authority. Not a little, Rp. 127.4 billion, allocated to build building infrastructure that should be under the authority of the central government. This condition is very sad, supposedly, the current regional financial situation, it is Riau that must get budgetary support from the center.
Rp. 127.4 billion, allocated for the Multipurpose Building of the Arhanud Battalion Rp. 4,462 billion, Mako Lanal in Dumai City Rp. 37,470 billion, construction management for the MAKO BRIMOB construction Rp. 479 million, Mako Lanal Development Construction Management Rp. 1,579 Billion. Apart from that, Rp. 987 million was also used to build the Construction Management for the VIP Room Pandawa Room at the Roesmin Nurjadin Airbase, Rp. 987 million for the BRIMOB MAKO Indragiri Hulu. 10.05 billion.
Not only that, the budget was also used for the construction of the VIP Room Pandawa Lanud Roesmin Nurjadin Rp. 26,825 billion, Procurement of Furniture Makorem 031/WB Rp. 20 billion, Supervision of the Construction of the Multipurpose Building Battalion Arhanud 13/PBY Rp. 232 Million, Supervision of Supporting Infrastructure Development for the High Prosecutor’s Office Building for Riau Province (Tennis Court) Rp. 100 million. Furthermore, the preparation of environmental documents and environmental approval for the development of MAKO BRIMOB Indragiri Hulu Rp. 100 Million, Preparation of Environmental Documents and Environmental Approval for the Development of the VIP Room Pandawa Room Lanud Roesmin Nurjadin Rp. 100 Million, Planning for the Construction of the Multipurpose Building of Battalion Arhanud 13/PBY Rp. 304 Million,
Riau has also allocated Rp. Rp. 517 Million. Mako Lanal Development Planning in Dumai City (Periodic Supervision Stage) Rp. 90 million, Planning for the Development of Supporting Infrastructure for the High Prosecutor’s Office Building for Riau Province (Tennis Court) Rp. 100 Million. Planning for the Development of Supporting Infrastructure at the Pekanbaru High Religious Court (Tennis Court) Rp. 100 million, and Planning for the Development of the VIP Room Pandawa Lanud Roesmin Nurjadin Rp. 1.06 billion. Said Taupik, Fitra’s advocacy manager.
“It’s not illegal to give grants to the central government, but the provincial government should first meet the priority needs of the regions,” said Taupik, Advocacy Manager for Fitra Riau.
There are more important situations for Local Governments to address. Such as basic education services. Currently, education infrastructure is at the high school level, more than 50% in poor condition. Riau also needs an adequate budget allocation for road and bridge infrastructure. Several people’s access to roads that should be under the authority of Riau Province are still hampered.
“The budget policy clearly hurts the people of Riau. Because, what should have been used to improve public education facilities, was actually used for things that were not in the interest of the community at large, “explained Taupik.
Do you know? Rp. 127 billion, that’s the same as building 637 new classrooms complete with contents for basic education facilities. Meanwhile, when viewed from the education budget, Riau only budgets for repairing and building 110 classrooms for education. This is very sad, the government actually ignores the larger public interest.
“For important infrastructure, such as education, the Riau Provincial Government has only budgeted Rp. 60.8 billion to build educational infrastructure. This budget is much smaller than that for building a building which is not actually under the authority, “said Taupik Again.
Fitra Riau does not know what is behind Riau’s eagerness to build facilities that should be the business of the central government through vertical institutions. The Governor of Riau should be more concerned about building what the poor people need. Moreover, the current economic situation of society is not good.
“Riau has provided enough grants to vertical institutions, that should be enough,” said Taupik.
For the sake of the people of Riau, it must be cancelled
Seeing the community’s priority needs, Fitra Riau asked the Governor of Riau to reconsider the budget allocation. Even the Governor has to cancel and reallocate for more important and priority needs.
“The Governor of Riau should look again at what are the priorities and promises during the campaign that have been contained in the Riau RPJMD. Now that it has been running for three years, it should be able to reflect on development achievements, “said Taupik.
To the Riau DPRD, Fitra Riau assessed that this situation also shows that the Riau DPRD is not working well in carrying out its functions (budgeting). Budgets like this should be rejected so they don’t pass into the 2022 APBD. “We are very supportive if the DPRD and the Governor evaluate canceling the budget at the momentum of changing the APBD” Taufik suggested.
We hope that vertical institutions receiving grants will no longer burden the Riau APBD budget for non-priority infrastructure activities. Let’s return the regional budget for the benefit of the wider community. For this reason, we need to jointly request that these budgets be canceled in the APBD.
Writer
Taupik
