A meeting of the Bali Provincial House of Representatives (DPRD-Bali) reviewed Bali’s annual budget and designated across the board cuts in expenditures for 2022, including reductions in the operating funding for the DPRD-Bali Secretariat.
As reported by NusaBali.com, DPRD-Bali members have been banned from taking overseas travel and eliminated spending on facilities and infrastructure at the DPRD-Bali Secretariat.
An inside source of NusaBali.com within the Bali Provincial Administration said a verification process conducted by the Ministry of Home Affairs had been completed. On Wednesday, 29 December 2021, the unnamed source said that refocusing and refinement of the Provincial budget had been maximized. These cuts include a provision forbidding members of the DPRD-Bali from traveling abroad.
The same source said that domestic travel by members outside of Bali that is not urgent would also be limited. Working visits outside the region and even between regencies and the metropolitan area of Bali are also limited. In other words, activities that are not deemed essential will be eliminated to curb spending from the 2022 budget.
When NusaBali.com attempted to verify the broad range of budget cuts, the Deputy Chairman of the DPRD-Bai from the Golkar faction, Nyoman Sugawa Korry, confirmed that the Bali Provincial Budget is undergoing “refocusing” for 2022. “The planning of the 2022 Bali Provincial Budget (APBD) has been checked and verified by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Indeed, many items in the budget have been refocused. I don’t recall in detail the amounts and with areas have been cut.,” said Sugawa Korry,
Sugawa Korry said the “refocusing” of the budget for the Secretariat of the DPRD-Bali has cuts exceeding Rp. 18 billion and has been done to handle the impact of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Sugawa Korry, the refocusing of the provincial budget for 2022 means eliminating any plans to repair facilities and infrastructure at the DPRD-Bali Secretariat. The legislator admitted that several facilities and infrastructure items at the Secretariat were in a bad state of repair. This bad state of repair is found in the meeting rooms, faction offices, and main assembly rooms – all needing reparation. “But, repairs cannot be undertaken in 2022 because of the refocusing of the budget,” explained Sugawa Korry, who also serves as the chairman of the Budget Oversight Body for the DPRD Bali.
NusaBali.com’s visit to the main assembly hall in the main building of the DPRD-Bali revealed a shabby-looking venue. The publication concluded that the room was not representative of a People’s Parliament, noting that the main hall resembled a “krupuk cracker,” was moldy, and messy.
The meeting hall’s condition has declined over the past two years due to a lack of funding for care and maintenance. Before the global plague, annual upgrades and repairs were always performed on the Provincial House of Representatives located on Jalan Kusumaatmadja Niti Mandala in central Denpasar.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of the DPRD-Bali, Gede Suralaga, said the actual refocusing of the Secretariat’s budget was decided by the head of the House. Adding: “Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the refocusing of the budget is ongoing because the economy has yet to recover.”
Suralaga said repairs would be undertaken on damaged facilities in the following year if the economic situation in Bali improves. In the meantime, he said the administrative function of the Secretariat would continue uninterrupted.
The budget planning meeting for the Province of Bali was concluded on 22 November 2021. At that meeting, the total income for the Province for 2022 was projected at Rp. 5.04 trillion with planned expenditures of Rp. 6.10 trillion, resulting in a budget deficit of Rp. 1.06 trillion.