JAKARTA. People’s Welfare Coordinating Minister Agung Laksono says the total budget for the National Program for People Empowerment (PNPM) 2014 reached Rp 15 trillion (US$1.36 billion).

“Rp 15 trillion has been allocated to empower people through the PNPM program,” he said in Jakarta on Tuesday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

The minister claimed PNPM was one of the successful government-funded people empowerment programs in which people could directly benefit from the programs advantages.

 “Impacts of the PNPM programs can be directly felt by people, especially those who live in rural areas,” said Agung. He added the PNPM was a program which used empowerment as a method to improve people’s prosperity.

In 2014, the PNPM budget allocated for disadvantaged districts was increased to Rp 3 billion per district from the previous allocation that was between Rp 1 billion and Rp 3 billion.

Agung admitted that despite ongoing monitoring, the PNPM program was susceptible to various schemes of abuse although the percentage was quite small.

Therefore, he said, the government would impose sanctions to any local government which was found to have embezzled the interest-free business loans. “Their PNPM fund can be frozen temporarily until related ministries or institutions verify whether they are still eligible for the program.” (ebf/ The Jakarta Post)

Editor: Asnil Amri