By: Dr. Dewa Gede Sudika Mangku, S.H., LL.M

Chair of the Law and Citizenship Department and Chair of the Undiksha Anti-Corruption Study Center


The birth of Law Number 6 of 2014 concerning Villages is a form of the government's seriousness in bringing change to this country. The basic concept that states that developing Indonesia starts from villages can be justified because villages are the smallest community associations capable of driving the smallest economy. On this basis, the government sees villages as having a very strategic position to continue to be developed and empowered to create economic prosperity and equality.
To manage the village, sufficient funds are needed. By looking at the large number of villages spread from Sabang to Merauke, of course, the government will pour very large and very risky funds into its management. This is because when the government disburses such large amounts of funds it is very vulnerable to corruption by village officials. After all, village officials have never previously managed such large and large amounts of finances. Of course, these funds are very vulnerable to corruption for personal gain.
With the enactment of the village law, village officials are getting a windfall. Because they must manage the village for the sustainability of the village and the development of the economy in the village. Apart from that, the benefits are to alleviate poverty and equalize development in the village. However, implementation in the field does not match reality because many village funds are corrupted by village officials and of course, this is very ironic. The funds disbursed by the government made village officials become "villages suddenly rich". This may cause some villages to be confused about how to manage and use these funds.
As a result, with this confusion and the arbitrariness of positions held by village officials, village funds in several villages in Indonesia have been corrupted. This has been proven to be true, there are several cases where village officials have committed criminal acts of corruption against village funds. For example, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) once stated that from 2015 to 2018 there were 181 cases with state losses reaching IDR 40.6 billion. From all the data revealed by ICW, the main actor in misappropriating village funds is the village head. It is very sad indeed when the government trusts its village officials to manage such a large amount of money but instead, it is misused and corrupted. READ  A total of 106 foreign passengers were refused entry to Bali
ICW also released that in 2019 there were 46 cases of corruption in the village budget sector. As a result of corruption in village funds, it caused state losses of IDR 32.3 billion. These results show that the trend of corruption using village funds is quite worrying and dangerous. Village funds that should be used for building infrastructure in the village and building the economy in the village are instead being corrupted for the interests of a few people.
By looking at the situation above, it seems that the government needs to make regulations regarding strict supervision of village funds, for example by collaborating with the Corruption Eradication Commission and ICW to help. Then, considering the very minimal supervision carried out by the government, the most important thing to do is educate village officials to understand financial management. If village officials understand the science related to budget management, they will understand what must be done.
It could be that since the disbursement of village funds started in 2015, village officials throughout the country are not used to managing large amounts of funds, if some do not have strong faith they will be tempted to commit criminal acts in the form of corruption. By providing them with adequate knowledge about budgets, and by jointly monitoring the use of village funds, it is possible that we can minimize the occurrence of corruption and hopefully villages throughout Indonesia will become developed and independent.
https://www.baliprawara.com/2020/03/01/rawan-korupsi-pengelolaan-dana-desa-perlu-pengawasan-super-ketat/