JAKARTA – The Minister of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions (Mendes PDT), Yandri Susanto, attended the Appreciation and Awards Night for the Achievements of the Jaksa Garda Desa (Jaga Desa) Program at the Fairmont Hotel, Jakarta, Sunday night (April 19, 2026).

Minister Yandri praised the Jaga Desa program, which is a collaboration between the Ministry of Villages (Kemendes PDT) and the Attorney General's Office through the Deputy Attorney General for Intelligence.

"This is an excellent program, and Village Heads feel greatly assisted by the presence of Jaga Desa," said Minister Yandri.

Minister Yandri acknowledged that Village Heads now feel protected from certain individuals or groups who tend to interfere with or disrupt their performance in carrying out village development.

He further explained that, based on the evaluation of Village Fund performance over the last 10 years, villages in disadvantaged regions—such as those in the Papua region—still require administrative improvements. To maximize the performance and realization of Village Funds, the Ministry is intensifying Technical Guidance by partnering with Local Governments.

"We are also simplifying the Reporting System, an initiative that has received affirmation from the Ministry of Finance," Minister Yandri stated.

During the Jaga Desa Short Film Festival Awards 2026, Minister Yandri presented awards to the Best and Favorite Provinces for the Short Film submission category with the Jaga Desa theme, based on the highest assessment ratio. The Best Province was awarded to the Bangka Belitung Islands, while the Favorite Province was awarded to East Java.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the ABPEDNAS Advisory Board, who is also the Attorney General, ST Burhanuddin, expressed his appreciation to all parties contributing to the Jaga Desa Awards 2026. Jaga Desa is the Attorney General's Office's commitment to overseeing village governance to ensure it remains accountable and free from deviations.

Attorney General Burhanuddin urged his ranks not to be reckless in naming village heads as suspects, especially if the errors found are merely administrative and there is no evidence of misappropriation of funds. He emphasized the importance of avoiding the criminalization of village heads, stating that suspect status can only be established if it is proven that village funds were misused for personal gain.

"There is no criminalization. Avoid making a village head a suspect unless the money was indeed used by the village head personally," Attorney General Burhanuddin asserted.

According to him, many village heads do not have a background in government administration, leading to frequent administrative errors. However, such mistakes should not immediately result in criminal legal proceedings. "If it is only an administrative error and they are made a suspect, I will demand accountability (from the prosecutors)," he stressed.

Burhanuddin believes that a coaching and mentoring approach is far more appropriate than legal action for administrative cases. He requested all District Attorneys (Kajari) to actively provide assistance to village heads in financial management. "They may not know; therefore, it is our duty to guide them," he said.

He also stated that responsibility for administrative errors should be borne by the village government departments at the regency level, as these agencies have the obligation to foster and supervise the performance of village heads.

The event was also attended by the Chairman of the DPD (Regional Representative Council), Sultan Bakhtiar; Presidential Special Envoy, Hashim Djojohadikusumo; Minister of Cooperatives, Ferry Juliantono; Minister of Creative Economy, Teuku Riefky Harsya; Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Dadan Hindayana; Vice Minister of MSMEs, Helvi Yuni Moraza; Deputy Attorney General for Intelligence, Reda Manthovani; BPK (Audit Board) Member 1, Nyoman Adhi Suryadnyana; Chairman of ABPEDNAS, Indra Gunawan; and various provincial and district prosecutors.

Foto: Andri/Kemendes PDT 
Teks: Firman/Kemendes PDT