Indonesian President Joko Widodo has vowed to raise the funds which the government will transfer nearly $30 billion to the villages across the country, world’s fourth most popular country, over the next five years if he wins his second term as president in April.
The World Bank has questioned the effectiveness of the program known as Village Fund, while there were also raised concerns over how the transfer fuel the corruption.
According to Reuters news reports, Widodo, who will again contest against the former military general Prabowo Subianto, has made his vow during a televised speech on Sunday’s night. He said that by the end of 2019, his administration would reportedly have transferred about 257 trillion rupiahs ($18.36 billion) to the country’s villages, and this would rise up to 400 trillion ($28.54 billion) only if he receives another five-year term.
While addressing thousands of his supporters in a conference hall in Sentul on Sunday, Widodo said, “Half of the Indonesian people live in villages and there is a higher poverty level there than in cities. With better utilization (of funds), the prosperity of the people will be more evenly distributed to remote villages.”
Since Village Funds scheme was launched in 2015, around hundreds of village officials were arrested by Indonesian anti-graft agency alleged over corruption. There had been about 181 graft cases related to the scheme, as of last year, based on Corruption Watch’s tally.
Prabowo has criticized Widodo for economic mismanagement that he said had left many people living with a poor lifestyle. Prabowo’s camp has accused Widodo of using the scheme, the Village Funds, to win votes.
Prabowo has also vowed to transfer around 1 billion rupiahs to every village across the country if he wins in April against Widodo.