Special Autonomy Fund for People's Welfare |
ACEH is the farthest region on the island of Sumatra and Indonesia which has the privilege of apart from DKI Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Papua, namely special autonomy. In this context, there are two attributes that Aceh has in special autonomy, including Law Number 2001 concerning Special Autonomy and Law Number 11 of 2006 concerning Aceh Governance.
These two attributes are given on the basis of the consideration that the NKRI government system recognizes and respects special local government units that have been regulated in law. In addition, Aceh has a distinctive character in high defense and struggle that comes from a strong Islamic view of life, character and culture so that it becomes a capital for the struggle to seize and defend the Republic of Indonesia and various other considerations.
Therefore, the central government has provided substantial funds to the Aceh government in carrying out its administration as a form of reconciliation that is wise and dignified for the sake of educational, economic, political, social and religious development.
This recognition has been recorded in at least three regulations such as the Decree of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Indonesia Number 1 / Missi / 1959 concerning the Privileges of Aceh, Law 18/2001 concerning Special Autonomy for the Special Region of Aceh as a province and Law 44/1999 concerning the Implementation of Privileges for the Special Province of Aceh.
The poorest province
It is hoped that this will provide great benefits for Aceh in realizing prosperity, justice and peace. The period for granting special autonomy to Aceh is only valid for 20 years (2008-2027), with the division of two percent from the first year to the 15th year, while for the 16th to 20th years only 1 percent is given of the national DAU ceiling.
In the context of the use of the special autonomy fund, the Aceh government (2008-2019) received funds amounting to Rp73.360 trillion. Meanwhile, for 2020 the government has allocated a fund of IDR 8.3 trillion.
If we observe the description of the funds above, it is fitting for Aceh to become an independent and advanced region with a very large injection of funds to support infrastructure, economic, educational, religious, social and cultural development. Sadly, the poverty rate in Aceh is still very high until now, where in the previous year it was named the poorest province in Sumatra with low education and economy.
If we look more specifically, most of the indications of all problems in Aceh according to facts and data on various problems in Aceh are the very worrying poverty rate where previously it was at 17.11%.
Although currently there has been a decrease of 0.02%, it is still above the national average (11.22%). Until now, Aceh has lagged far behind compared to North Sumatra (10.79%) and West Sumatra (6.71%) even though the total development budget for Aceh is larger than the two provinces.
In addition, the quality of education is also of concern where 56.63% of the Acehnese have only graduated from junior high school and elementary school, access to health services is increasingly difficult where the maternal and child mortality rate reaches 192 per 100,000 births, and the quality of services for basic needs of the Acehnese people such as electricity is increasingly worrying.
Electric potential
UNTIL now, the availability of electric power is only 495 MW and even then it still depends on the 150-200 MW power plant in North Sumatra, even though electricity is very useful in supporting the process of meeting people's needs in various fields such as economy, health, education, and so on.
Based on the above problems, through the allocation of special autonomy funds (Otsus), electricity independence in Aceh can be realized. The status of the special autonomy fund is often discussed by students and the Acehnese community.
According to data from the Aceh Mining and Energy Office, in Aceh there is a lot of electricity potential such as 2,862.8 MW of hydropower in several areas such as Krueng Teunom 288.2 MW, Krueng Dolok 32.2 MW, Krueng Woyla 274 MW, Tampur of 428 MW, and in other areas as well as the potential for electricity from geothermal (geothermal) with an available capacity in Aceh Province of 1,115 MW.
Based on the potential above, the seriousness of the government is expected by all elements of society in realizing electricity independence in Aceh. Special autonomy is an effective way of realizing electricity independence in Aceh with large funds with the help of power plant experts who collaborate with universities and research institutions such as Syiah Kuala University, Malikussaleh University, Teuku Umar University, UIN Ar-Raniry, and so on.
With sufficient capacity and equipment, power generation facilities can be realized in an efficient and targeted manner so that Aceh is able to overcome electricity problems for the community without depending on the province of North Sumatra, even the potential for electricity can provide backup electricity supply to other provinces. In addition, special autonomy has the potential to support national priority programs in the electricity sector in Indonesia, especially in Aceh.
Electricity for welfare
With sufficient funds, the government, electrical experts, research institutes, and universities can create technological innovations in the design of geothermal power plants (PLTPB) and hydropower using the concept of condensing turbine and binary cycle technology to make maximum use of Aceh's electricity potential. With innovations like this, the fuel oil used in PLTD will be more efficient to use so that the government does not spend much of the Special Autonomy funds to buy fuel for PLTD.
In addition, the government and its staff need to cooperate and convince investors from various regions and foreign countries to build power plants with researched potential. The government can guarantee security for them in building power generation facilities, especially in bureaucratic and legal processes such as licensing, the existence of clear contracts, and taking sides with the community so that it can run safely and under control.
With the synergy of the government, universities, research institutions and investors, it will accelerate the electricity distribution process to various remote villages and be able to realize the potential for electricity as expected by the government and the community.
With government transparency regarding the allocation of special autonomy funds to support the realization of electricity independence in Aceh, the government has also supported the process of economic development, education, health, and reducing unemployment and poverty. The faster the government works in making it happen, the greater the hope of the province of Aceh in the prosperity and welfare of its people. []
Fitri Hardiyanti, student of Ar-Raniry State Islamic University, Banda Aceh. This article was the first winner of a writing competition on the theme of Hope for Change in Aceh 2021 which was held by Malikussaleh University and supported by Mubadala Petroleum, Premier Oil, and SKK Migas.