Director of Gemawan Association, Laili Khairnur, considered that village funds which are currently distributed to every village have not given any impact on the village economy. This is because most of the villages have not had Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDes).
Gemawan, Laili said, continue to provide assistance to the village government and village communities in terms of building capacity. Moreover, the government, Laili said, disbursed not little amount of village funds, reaching up to IDR. 1 billion to IDR. 2 billions, so that it must be used for the development of MSMEs potentials in the village areas.
“There are not many BUMDes in West Kalimantan, they are still being formed. Therefore, the economic benefits have not been felt and, in my opinion, they have to be considered already. Not more than only 4 percent of villages which already own incorporated BUMDes. Furthermore, BUMDes must characterize the locality and see what commodities wish to be developed. ” Laili said on Friday (31/3/2017).
Laili said that BUMDes should have been much higher in numbers. Moreover, the form of BUMDes can be various, such as cooperatives, limited liability companies and other forms of agency.
According to her, in the current era, we have to make villages no longer rely on raw commodities. Besides, do not kill the existing potential.
“Do not kill the small businesses which have been existed. Instead, strengthen the existing small businesses in one village. Village communities must be more creative in creating products with added values. A village which already has agricultural products, do not open a plantation instead, but make a store to sell agricultural products.” she said.
Village Funds
In her opinion, it is time for the village communities to rise up economically, by maximizing their own internal tools.
BUMDes, Laili said, has to play a role in optimizing village economic potential, especially micro, small and medium enterprises. The villages must also be thorough in seeing a promising market, and become the suppliers to the market’s needs.
In addition, Laili said that the village fund program must be adapted to the needs and potential of each village. However, she admitted, there is no comprehensive study and research which discuss the village potential.
Village development, Laili stated, is supposed to fit the profile so that village data, village potential becomes important.
She said what becomes the problem is that the government still consider that development is about physical projects. Whereas, she mentioned that human development is no less important. According to Laili, village officials with qualified human resources and assisted by the facilitators can manage the budget properly.
“Do not let the villages build bridges or any projects which they actually do not really need. It could be that they need the presence of teachers or health workers more. There is also an example of a program where a village in Java generates one KK (Family Card), one bachelor’s degree. Therefore, we emphasize the implementation of participatory mapping covering the potential of the village.” she said.
Well then, this has led to a tremendous impact of the Village Funds on the community’s economy.
“Just imagine that one village is given a budget of IDR 1.5 billion to IDR 2 billion, this is what they are actually able to manage. In addition, there are others such as central assistance and development. To me, it is funny if there is no change. This is what we want to discuss, whether or not the economy improves, how is the community participation, whether or not the poverty in the villages changes, and the education. That is what we want to measure together.” she said.
Source: http://pontianak.tribunnews.com/2017/04/01/gemawansebut-dana-desa-harus-digunakan-untuk-pengembangan-potensi-umkm?page=2