Regional COVID-19 Budget Spending Minimal

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

A health worker records patient data on Thursday (23/4/2020) in the hemodialysis center of Bogor Regional General Hospital in Bogor municipality, West Java. As many as 51 health workers at the hospital have been listed as suspected cases of Covid-19, pending the results of their swab tests. As a result, the hospital has downsized some nonessential services, including non-coronavirus outpatient services.

In the midst of surging COVID-19 cases on Java, the use of the virus handling budget in a number of regions is still very low.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The government is encouraging local administrations to improve the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in a number of regions, the use of the budget for healthcare purposes is not running optimally.

In the city of Tegal, Central Java, for example, only Rp 16.5 billion, or about 28 percent, of the total city COVID-19 budget of about Rp 57 billion has been spent. The speaker of the Tegal Regional Legislative Council (DPRD), Kusnendro, hopes that the unused budget can be spent quickly. One target is to buy polymerase chain reaction (PCR) equipment, which has not been done. In fact, Rp 5.8 billion has been allotted for PCR procurement.

"If you have your own PCR device, the 3T [tracking, testing and treatment] process is more optimal and doesn\'t take long," he said on Wednesday.

According to Tegal administration secretary Johardi, in general, no obstacles are hindering COVID-19 response spending. So far, the COVID-19 task force has been careful when spending the budget.

The acting secretary for the Central Java provincial administration, Prasetyo Aribowo, said that in the 2021 Regional Budget (APBD), the allocation for COVID-19 handling was around Rp 283 billion. Only about 10 percent of the funds have been absorbed, mainly for centralized isolation, vaccination support and the purchase of consumables, such as reagents, personal protective equipment and medicines. "This number will increase drastically because several procurements are being processed," he said.

KOMPAS/ADITYA PUTRA PERDANA

Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo (center), accompanied by Central Java Health Agency head Yulianto Prabowo (left) and Surakarta-based RSUD Moewardi Hospital president director Cahyono Hadi, gives an update on COVID-19 cases in Semarang, Central Java, on 13 March 2020.

According to Prasetyo, the provincial budget alone is not enough to solve the wide variety of problems. It needs contributions from the regency and city administrations.

This is in accordance with a directive of the government, namely that regions need to refocus their budget by 8 percent of the funds transferred from the central government, such as general allocation funds (DAU) and profit sharing funds (DBH). "On average, the regional and city administrations only spend 3 percent of the refocused DAU," said Prasetyo.

In Yogyakarta, the local government has allocated Rp 435 billion for the COVID-19 response. However, as of June 2021, only about 20 percent had been spent.

In addition, the Yogyakarta administration has prepared an emergency budget of around Rp 20 billion to be used to help deal with the pandemic. In other words, there are still sufficient funds to meet the needs of handling COVID-19 in Yogyakarta.

"This does not mean that absorption is low because the budget is used according to the need," said Yogyakarta Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) head Beny Suharsono in Yogyakarta on Wednesday.

On the same day, the number of new COVID-19 cases in Yogyakarta reached a daily record of 694 new cases. The daily cases of COVID-19 in Yogyakarta are continuing to rise. In the past week, they reached new records several times.

Critical

In Jakarta, the emergency budget (BTT) for the prevention of COVID-19 this year is reportedly in critical condition. The initial amount was Rp 2.13 trillion, and now only Rp 84 billion is left. The Jakarta regional administration and Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) will shift the budget allocations for several agencies (SKPD) to help finance the handling of COVID-19.

"With these budget shifts, the addition to the emergency budget is projected to reach Rp 1 trillion," said S Andyka, a city councillor from Commission C in charge of financial affairs.

KOMPAS/MACHRADIN WAHYUDI RITONGA

Officers of the West Java COVID-19 Information and Coordination Center monitor information and reports in the media related to the novel coronavirus in Gedung Sate, Bandung, West Java, on Wednesday (4/3/2020).

According to the head of Commission A for administrative affairs at the Jakarta DPRD, Mujiyono, the fact that city residents were losing income contributed to Jakarta’s reluctance to impose large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) like last year. "PSBB, or a lockdown, is not effective if it is carried out when regional income is receding," he said.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati hopes that the regional administration can support the central government\'s efforts to accelerate the handling of health through financial instrument transfers to regions and village funds (TKDD).

In the TKDD, there are allocations of DAU, DBH, village incentive funds (DID) and village funds that can be used to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination and health care. “We allow DAU and DBH to be used to help with vaccination programs, including helping subdistricts and villages enforce social restrictions. Incentives for health workers can also be done," said Sri Mulyani during a working meeting with House Commission IV earlier this week.

KOMPAS/CYPRIANUS ANTO SAPTOWALYONO

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati .

A member of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), Harry Azhar Azis, said the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic demanded capacity strengthening. The regional administrations, according to him, had to increase their fiscal capacity to finance the risk of a pandemic and continue to run administrative affairs and development. (DIM/HRS/XTI/DIT/ HLN/VAN/DAN)

(This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswoko).