Kupastuntas.co, Bandar Lampung - The Indonesian Parliament has also highlighted President Joko Widodo's policy of taking over the repair of damaged roads in Lampung Province. The House of Representatives (DPR) views the decision as a warning for the Lampung Provincial Government to pay more attention to improving infrastructure.

Deputy Chairman of Commission II DPR RI, Yanuar Prihatin said, President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi) decision to take over the repair of damaged roads in Lampung Province was a warning to the Lampung Provincial Government.

Yanuar believes that the central government taking over the road repairs has a meaning as a piercing message for the Lampung Provincial Government. He asked that the message be captured as a warning for the Lampung Provincial Government to be more concerned with infrastructure improvements.

"It's just, don't forget, behind Jokowi's words, there is a piercing message. For the Lampung Provincial Government, this is a kind of warning that the Lampung Regional Government is not sufficiently capable of solving this one infrastructure problem. So in the future all levels of the local regional government should pay more attention and really for the improvement of local infrastructure, especially roads," said Yanuar, Sunday (7/5).

Yanuar said President Jokowi also conveyed an implied message to the central government regarding infrastructure oversight. For this reason, he also asked the central government not to forget to supervise development in the regions.

"And for the central government, Jokowi's words actually also remind that supervision and control of infrastructure in the regions must be stronger. The Lampung case implies that central supervision is weak. It must be improved," he said.

Yanuar revealed that the conclusion was to re-synchronize the entire road construction process in Lampung so that there would be real progress felt by the community.

Public Policy Observer at the University of Lampung (Unila), Dedy Hermawan, said that the central government's takeover of damaged road repairs in Lampung by the central government needs to be seen from the perspective of policy evaluation.

"The president taking over the repair of damaged roads in Lampung Province must be accompanied by an evaluation of the performance of the provincial government, so that the province cannot spontaneously be handed over to the center," said Dedy.

According to him, an evaluation of the use of the Lampung Province APBD will uncover the real veil of what is happening, whether there is waste in the use of the APBD.

"Perhaps the problem is not a matter of authority, but a matter of weak management of resources and finances. There may be a lot of waste in the APBD. There may be many activity items that can be postponed, and then the budget is diverted to more priority ones. That's why it is evaluated before taking it. over by the center," said Dedy.

Dedy encouraged policy evaluation in the implementation of the Lampung Province APDB. Because, local government should be as close as possible to the people.

“The problem is how to find a leader who can bring the government as close to the people as possible. When people say that road damage can be quickly repaired," he said.

He said, if after being objectively evaluated, limitations were found in terms of the budget, then it would be very natural for it to be taken over by the central government.

"You need to dismantle the APBD first whether it's healthy or not. Everyone can take refuge on the reason of covid. The provincial government can't be off guard, if there are budget constraints you have to think hard to find alternatives," he said.

According to him, the community wants quality leaders, including in overcoming the problem of limited budgets, they must be able to work creatively. "There is a business government scheme, you can take advantage of existing companies in Lampung to assist in improving this infrastructure," he added.

Dedy believes that President Jokowi's presence in Lampung will bring short-term and long-term solutions to road problems that have been damaged for years.

"For the provincial government Jokowi's presence is a rebuke and a hard blow, of course also for districts/cities that this presence is a form of failure in managing roads in Lampung Province," he said.

According to him, President Jokowi is known to be close to the people, so his presence must really touch deeply what the people are voicing. So of course the President will attend in his own way.

"Don't want the President to come with a conditioned situation, so naturally he wants to see the road naturally and objectively looking for a route that the Lampung Provincial Government did not expect. Even though he has prepared instant road repairs, the President wants to see the road in real terms, that's what I've read ," he said.

Dedy reminded that the President's statement was very clear, he wanted to see busy roads on social media, and became a strong critic of road construction in Lampung Province.

"And this will of course be of concern to the President nationally, because of the damaged road case d

i Lampung this also happened in various provinces. Even the worst is district/city roads. So it's all recorded, hopefully it can be accumulated into a national agenda in infrastructure improvement," he stated.

He hopes that the policy adopted by President Jokowi can become a medium and long term program to improve road infrastructure nationally.

As is known, President Jokowi directly monitored the condition of damaged roads in Lampung Province, namely in Central Lampung and South Lampung Regencies, on Friday (5/5). Because the road he visited had long been damaged, President Jokowi decided that the policy for repairing damaged roads in Lampung would be taken over by the central government.

"Look, the spirit is that we want to repair, the roads that we saw just now, both district and provincial roads, both city roads which were badly damaged. And the public must know, there is responsibility for national roads in the central government, provincial roads in the governor "The district road is under the regent/mayor," said Jokowi, Friday (5/5).

Jokowi said the funds disbursed by the central government for road repairs amounted to IDR 800 billion. There are 15 roads in Lampung that will be repaired by the central government.

"This year the central government, specifically for Lampung, will disburse a budget of approximately Rp. 800 billion for 15 road sections, including this one," he said. (*)

This news has been published in Kupas Tuntas daily newspaper Monday, May 8 2023 edition, with the title "Yanuar Prihatin: Arinal Must Care More about Infrastructure Improvement"