Saipudin, Mulyosari Village Head became a resource person in Public Discussion on March, 29 in Jakarta (photo: Affan Firmansyah/Bina Desa)
JAKARTA, BINADESA.ORG – In Public Discussion with theme: ‘Hearing the Voice from the Bottom’ titled “Portrait of Village Democratization Practices” in Jakarta on March, 29 did a resource person attend from Lampung, Saipudin, Mulyosari Village Head, Pesawaran.
Saipudin regretted his people still acting passively in building the village. Mulyosari Village was established on November 19, 2012, the expansion of Gunung Rejo Village, Lampung Province.
He also said that “in terms of Village Development the idea has been openly handed over to the community from the sub-village level. The community has been asked to actively play a role in building the village, but they are still reluctant to perform musyawarah.”
Before Village Fund is provided, Village Head has come to the village to merely talk about development and it is never realized. Therefore, the community considers the coming of Village Head to them discussing the problem a mere talk.
“Now we visit hamlets one by one, we hold discussions with the community. We explore the issues and explain the wishes of the men and women, as well as the youth. To gain the trust of the community, the village government makes an online report that can be seen on the internet. All information related to the village including the Village Fund can be accessed through Facebook, “said Saipudin.
One of the activities in Mulyosari Village in exploring ideas related to Mulya Jaya BUMDes (Village-owned enterprises) (Photo: Mulyosari Village Archives)
The government solicits and accommodates all ideas from the community to build the village. However, RAB (the Budget Plan) is required to approve the idea given by the community.
“We will not disburse the budget if the group does not have the Budget Plan because Village Head is responsible for PA (Budget Accountability). Furthermore, BPD (Village Consultative Body) will approve the budget to be disbursed if it is for the common good and meets the administrative qualification” added Saipudin.
He added that “the government through community participation has now been able to explore and utilize natural resources available as a village-owned business. Then BUMDes (Village-owned enterprises) chooses bottled drinking water business as a business unit named Tirta Jaya.
The village government encourages the community to participate optimally in exploring ideas. “The current challenge is how the community can believe that the village government is not just talking, but moving together with them,” Mulyosari Village Head concluded. ***
