Using government funds, a number of villages have tried using creative means to endure the pandemic. However, the slow disbursement of funds and the lack of resources have become challenges.
By
KOMPAS TEAM
·5 minutes read
MALANG, KOMPAS — The COVID-19 pandemic has affected even small communities in the country, including villages, which have become an important part of the government’s efforts to cope with the pandemic at the micro level. The resources and funds managed by villages can potentially be used to achieve herd immunity. However, they need support from many parties to make it happen.
Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Minister Abdul Halim Iskandar said villages had been prepared to cope with the pandemic since 2020. "Villages have been prepared to deal with COVID-19 with policies from the [the ministry] so that village funds can be used for three things, namely BLT [direct cash assistance], the COVID-19 free village program and the village labor-intensive work program [PKTD]. These three things are focused on handling two problems, namely the economy and health," he said on Friday (30/7/2021).
Therefore, Abdul Halim said, villages just needed to consolidate efforts to cope with the pandemic.
The creativity villages have deployed to survive the pandemic can be seen in Wajak village in Malang regency, East Java. Wajak village head Aris Sulistiyanto, 39, was initially embarrassed by the pandemic situation, especially with the sharp increase in deaths in the village. The average number of deaths, which was previously only 27 per month has now increased to 49 per month.
"We’re focusing on prevention, including using village funds to buy vitamins for residents," said Aris. The district head’s active role in developing the village, according to Aris, has been quite helpful.
Aris allocated about Rp 48 million of the village’s funds to buy vitamins for residents of Wajak Village at a cost of Rp 10,000 per vitamin package. Vitamins were distributed to 4,800 households.
The government’s village funds, received by Desa Wajak in 2021, amounted to Rp 1.38 billion. Most of the village funds are allocated for the BLT cash assistance program, pandemic mitigation, including purchases of masks and vitamins, and the construction and maintenance of village roads.
Meanwhile, residents of Panggungharjo village in Bantul regency, Yogyakarta, have successfully developed a digital COVID-19 handling system called BantulTangguh.com, which is used to monitor residents with COVID-19, those who have been in close contact with people with COVID-19 and those who have been vaccinated.
“BantulTangguh.com is a web-based application that helps clinical screening. So residents who have been exposed to COVID-19 are asked to report their health condition through the application," said the head of Panggungharjo village, Wahyudi Anggoro Hadi.
According to Wahyudi, the mapping was carried out to estimate the amount of funds that would be required to address the pandemic in the village. This year, the village received Rp 1.4 billion in village funds.
About 80 percent, or some Rp 1.2 billion, of the total funds was earmarked for COVID-19 mitigation programs, including the disbursement of BLT cash assistance to residents directly affected by the pandemic.
A different initiative was taken by Siderejo village in Langsa city, Aceh. "We provide isolation houses for people with COVID-19. The village task force team provide medicine, oxygen cylinders and basic necessities such as food. Each family receives financial assistance of Rp 350,000,” said Salahuddin, the head of Sidorejo village, which is locally called Geuchik.
The village funds received by Sidorejo village in 2021 amounted to Rp 1.8 billion, and about Rp 100 million of the total has been allocated for COVID-19 handling. In addition to providing for basic needs, the village has also distributed vitamins to residents and disinfected public areas.
Not yet optimal
Even though the village funds have been quite helpful in handling COVID-19, the slow disbursement of the funds and the lack of human resources and leadership remain big problems for many villages.
Based on data from the Villages, Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration Ministry, the government has allocated Rp 72 trillion in village funds for 74,961 villages this year, but as of July 31, only 48.55 percent of the total funds had been disbursed – to 71,611 of the villages.
The village funds are being distributed in three installments. In the first period, the funds are being disbursed to 71,611 villages (96 percent), in the second period to 19,203 villages (26 percent) and the third to 248 villages (0.33 percent).
"A number of villages are unable to receive the village funds for the second period because they have yet to report the use of the funds distributed last year,” said Abdul Halim.
Let the local values play a key role in this situation. Each village will have their own approaches that are distinctive and specific. Give them more room to implement them.
Deputy head for economic development of the Office of the Secretariat of the Vice President, Ahmad Erani Yustika, said villages had the potential to achieve herd immunity in the broadest sense – social and economic – faster because cultural interactions in villages were more dominant than material interactions in urban areas.
With such condition, according to Erani, herd immunity in social and economic fields can be achieved more quickly in villages. The most important thing, Erani said, was that the authentic initiatives of the villagers should not be restricted by the government’s top-down approaches. “Let the local values play a key role in this situation. Each village will have their own approaches that are distinctive and specific. Give them more room to implement them,” he said. ( HRS / WER /AIN/ FRN/ KOR /NIK/ COK/OSA/DIA)
This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.