A nationwide community empowerment scheme for villages is causing trouble for the central government with many local administrations refusing to carry out the program, citing political and financial reasons.

Mayors and regents rejecting the scheme have described the National Program for Community Empowerment (PNPM), launched last year by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, as a campaign gimmick to further the political interests of the incumbent leader and his supporters.

Other regional administrations that oppose the scheme claim they lack the funds to implement the program. Under the PNPM, regions are required to provide between 20 and 50 percent of the total budget needed for the program depending on their ability to pay.

Other regions rejected the program without giving a reason.

According to analysts, PNPM projects are meeting resistance from many regional administrations because they were denied involvement in managing the funds allocated for the empowerment

program.

Under the PNPM scheme, designed to create jobs and eradicate poverty, each district is given an average of Rp 3 billion in cash assistance to build infrastructure and to design its own community empowerment programs.

The money, provided by the central and local administrations, is managed by independent committees assigned to the projects by the central government.

Twelve regencies and six municipalities have refused to implement the program, including East Tanjung Jabung regency in Jambi, Bulungan regency in East Kalimantan, and Semarang, Surabaya and Medan.   

The Surabaya administration rejected the program over concerns it had no legal certainty and was politically motivated.

Another 38 administrations have yet to provide funds for the PNPM, but have promised to allocate money next year.

The Coordinating Ministry for the People’s Welfare, the PNPM executor, has accused the regional administrations of blocking efforts by the central government to fight poverty and unemployment through the program.

“This program has nothing to do with politics. The central government has provided technical assistance and part of the funding to execute the program, but this effort has been hampered by those who disagree,” Sujana Royat, a deputy to the chief welfare minister for poverty eradication, told a press conference in Jakarta on Monday.

“We don’t want people to put the blame on the central government for not being serious about addressing poverty, while in fact it is the regional administrations who are not serious,” he said.

On Sunday, the President expressed his disappointment over the rejection of the scheme and told the opposing mayors and regents to clarify their decision.

“I don’t have any idea why this program aimed to help people is being rejected. Please explain it to me and the people in your regions,” Yudhoyono said, arguing that the program was crucial for creating jobs and reviving the local economy.

At the PNPM launch in Palu last year, the President asked people not to link this program with politics, saying he expected the program to continue even in the event of a change of government.

Sujana said that in 2007, the PNPM was implemented in 1,969 districts nationwide, using up some Rp 1.4 trillion of state funds. This year the scheme covered a total of 3,999 districts

nationwide involving a budget of Rp 5.9 trillion, he added.

For next year, he said, his office would allocate Rp 11.01 trillion to cover all 6,408 districts nationwide, with each to receive Rp 3.2 billion.

Amid concerns that unemployment will rise next year due to the global financial crisis, the government plans to provide an additional Rp 5 trillion to finance the program, aimed to create 24 million jobs for laid-off workers.

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