YOGYAKARTA – Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) and the World Bank launched Public Expenditure Analysis and Capacity Harmonization-Capacity Building (PEACH-CB) Project, on Monday (28/3). PEACH-CB is a program for developing capacities in public financial management for regional governments, local universities and NGOs. This covers training, technical assistance, development of regional center of excellence, workshop, and conference and academic support for regional center of excellence.
This program is the continuation of UGM’s success that has won the grant from the World Bank amounting to 4 million USD in the holding of capacity enhancement in public management to support fiscal decentralisation in North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, Gorontalo, Papua, and East Java and Home Affairs Ministry.
Country Director of the World Bank, Stefan Koeberle, said the success of PEACH is expected to enhance public financial management at the regional levels and enhance public capacity in monitoring public management. “It’s very important to provide new information to regional governments and enhance the capacity of research institutes in Indonesia in doing analysis of public expenditure through research in public financial management,” said Koberle after launching PEACH, accompanied by Rector of UGM, Prof. Ir. Sudjarwadi, M.Eng., Ph.D., at Multimedia Room, Main Office UGM.
The results of cooperation between UGM and World Bank is expected to help the implementation of decentralisation of regional public financial management. One of the long term goals is to give real responsibility to the local government for public services they give and autonomy for regional revenues. “The local community will be more capable in encouraging their governments to be more accountable in order that there is increased public participation in governance processes,” he said.
PEACH-CB Project UGM will carry out various programs, including planning and budgeting, local revenues, accountancy and monitoring and evaluation. Training participants are targetted from regional working units (SKPD) at provincial and regency/municipality levels, namely Bappeda, Dispenda, Badan Pengelola Keuangan dan Aset Daerah, and regional inspectorate and sections related to planning and budgeting, regional revenues, accounting, and monitoring-evaluation of the SKPDs. “The training and technical assistance are in the form of assistance to provincial governments to analyse the budget submitted by the SKPD, helping the DPRD’s budget commission analyse the budget that is proposed and drafting local regulations,” he said.
Prof. Ir. Sudjarwadi, M.Eng., Ph.D., welcomed the establishment of PEACH as a form of cooperation between UGM and the World Bank. This program is expected to give solutions in conducting regional developments. “For UGM, this program can implement knowledge for people’s welfare and happiness,” he said.
He added that the participation of UGM researchers in PEACH is expected to gain experience and new knowledge formulation in finding solutions to the problems currently existing in the community.
Professor of Economics and Business UGM, Prof. Wihana Kirana Jaya, M.Soc,Sc., Ph.D., said that the change into decentralisation policy and regional autonomy have not been followed by good governance. During the past eleven years, the implementation of decentralisation and regional autonomy policy have increased information transparancy. But those have produced chances for dominant control by the local elite which eventually produces incomplete information or asymmetric information. “In turn, this will impact on institutional inneficiency,” said the researcher in fiscal decentralisation and budgeting.
Wihana said that the weak controlling and institutional enforcement became crucial issue in the relations of decentralisation and regional autonomy players. The institutional change of decentralisation and regional autonomy has made it unclear about who gives authority and who is given authority or representing the authority.
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