JAKARTA - Home Minister Tito Karnavian said that regional governments can use Regional Budget surplus to finance disaster management in the aftermath of flooding in the Greater Jakarta area.
Without a state of emergency declaration, said Mr Karnavian, the central government cannot intervene further in disaster management. Thus, regional governments need to act fast in handling the aftermath of a natural disaster without a state of emergency declaration.
“Regional governments can use unexpected expenditure budget allocated by each government as well as budget surplus,” said the ex-National Police Chief at the President’s Office as quoted by Bisnis.com, Friday (3/1).
“There are several regions with significant surpluses including West Java, Jakarta SCR, and Banten.”
Mr Karnavian added that the use of budget surplus will require approval from the Regional Legislative Council, and thus the Council is encouraged to speed up surplus disbursement for disaster management.
“Regional Legislative Councils should understand what people are going through and ease the process without prolonging it. It should take just one day for the surplus to be used immediately,” said Mr Karnavian. (MS)