PUTUSSIBAU - A total of 10 villages in Kapuas Hulu held a medium-term development plan (RPJM) exposé in Putussibau, May 17-20, 2017. The activity facilitated by WWF-Indonesia and the Village Community Empowerment Office is one form of commitment to build the country through village development.

In addition to sharing information and experience in preparing village development plans, the exposé aims to increase the capacity of village governments and BPD in terms of monitoring the implementation of village development and finance.

The training participants consisted of village government components, BPD, producer groups, women's groups, and traditional leaders from five WWF-assisted villages in Batang Lupar and Embaloh Hulu sub-districts and five other non-WWF-assisted villages. The villages are Sungai Ajung, Melemba, Labian, Labian Ira'ang, Manak Island, Tanjung, Manua Sadap, Pala Pulau, Tanjung Karang, and Sibau Hulu.

Kapuas Hulu Regional Secretary Ir. H. Muhammad Sukri in his written remarks hoped that this activity could inspire village heads in the development process. "One of the programs being discussed at the Kapuas Hulu DPRD is the development of green village development. I think one of the concrete programs is the development of development that is managed based on the knowledge and wisdom of community traditions," he said in Putussibau, Wednesday (17/5/2017).

While the Head of the Village Socio-Economic Institution Division, Village Community Empowerment Office M. Nasharuddin added, through these activities it is expected to be an important learning about aspects of planning management. "This is one of the nodes for the progress of a village," he said.

Hulu Kapuas Landscape Leader WWF-Indonesia Anas Nasrullah explained, this meeting is a place to consult and share information about planning, implementation, and supervision of village development.

"Participatory planning is the key to realizing the life and livelihood of village communities based on local knowledge, wisdom, and local potential," he said.

Chairman of the Melemba RPJMDes Preparation Team Jeaksen Thungku hopes that this activity will be able to improve the community's ability to oversee the implementation of the RPJMDes. "Initially, the preparation of the RPJMDes in our village was made haphazardly. The existence of trainings like this now gives us knowledge, what the RPJMDes function is, how to compile it, and monitor it," he added.

The RPJMDes Expos and the Training on Monitoring the Implementation of Village Development are a series of WWF-Indonesia's assistance program in the preparation and implementation of RPJMDes. The participatory program began in early 2015.

Throughout 2016, WWF-Indonesia has conducted various trainings such as the preparation of RPJMDes, assistance in drafting and writing Perdes, drafting BPD rules, writing and computer training, facilitator training and technical training for local economic improvement.

There are also thematic trainings for ecosystem sustainability and biodiversity. Each training involves the community, village officials and the BPD. Other parties are sometimes included such as FMU staff, Forclime Program staff, national park staff, NGOs, and others.

The above assistance refers to the mandate of Law No. 6/2014 on Villages. The point of the law is that the state gives responsibility for villages to play a major role in fulfilling the rights of citizens. Based on the authority and resources regulated by the law, the village has the right to carry out development for its area.