President Prabowo Firmly Reminds Sumatra Disaster Survivors of Budget, Take Action Against Corruption
Jakarta — President Prabowo Subianto issued a stern warning to all central and regional officials not to try to manipulate the disaster management budget currently being disbursed by the state for flood and landslide survivors in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra. This warning was issued due to the recurring practice of corruption in disaster budgets, especially when funding allocations increase drastically during the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase.
The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) and the Ministry of Public Works estimate the recovery needs to reach IDR 51.81 trillion. Therefore, the President requested that all legal and oversight instruments be fully activated to prevent budget leakage.
“So, the police, all parties, inspect local governments, note any irregularities, such as doubling prices, and so on,” Prabowo emphasized.
This stern warning was immediately followed up by several institutions. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has ensured that it will monitor every rupiah of the disaster relief budget to prevent misappropriation, as in previous cases. KPK Chairman Setyo Budiyanto stated that he will deploy relevant deputies.
“They can work together to ensure that there are no further irregularities related to aid, specifically donations from the public,” Setyo said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian also issued a special circular to all regional governments urging disaster funds, including Unexpected Expenditures (BTT), to be used according to the needs of survivors.
“This must be used strictly for disaster management. And prepare all the bills, receipts, and receipts. Yes, it’s not difficult, so that all usage documents are complete,” said Tito.
Tito explained that the BTT in the 52 affected regencies/cities and three provinces is relatively small—some regions even have only IDR 750 million. Therefore, the central government provided significant support. Initially, the Ministry of Home Affairs proposed an additional IDR 2 billion per region, but President Prabowo decided to increase it to IDR 4 billion. Aceh also received a special additional IDR 20 billion, while allocations for North Sumatra and West Sumatra were finalized with their respective governors.
Tito reiterated that no officials should misuse the public budget.
“Yes, I beg my fellow regional heads not to misuse this BTT. It must truly be used for disaster management,” he said.
Tito even emphasized the severe legal consequences.
“The sanctions will be very severe. In this world and the hereafter,” he said.
With an open warning from the President and preventive measures from various institutions, the government has emphasized that corruption in disaster relief funds will not be tolerated, and all state instruments will be mobilized to ensure that aid reaches the affected people of Sumatra.
