Jakarta – National antigraft agency KPK said on Sunday (29/01) it will investigate at least 79 reports of corruption and irregularity related to the use of the government's Village Fund.

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) spokesman Febri Diansyah said the agency has so far received 362 reports of corruption – filed using its own whistleblower system – related to the spending of the fund.

"We have reasons enough to follow up at least 87 of these reports," Febri said in Jakarta.

In 2016, the government spent Rp 47 trillion to build villages around the country in a move to boost infrastructure development and local economy, as ordered by the Village Fund Law which was passed by the House of Representatives in 2014.

This year the government allocated Rp 60 trillion ($4.5 billion) for the fund with each village slated to receive around Rp 800 million.

KPK has called on the public to help it monitor the use of the fund to avoid corruption and keep its effectiveness in boosting local economy. "We received many reports [of corruption and irregularities] after we asked the public to keep an eye on how their village funds are spent," Febri said.

However, the KPK did not mention which province has lodged the most number of corruption reports. Febri said the KPK may start official investigation into the reports if the evidence warrants it.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/whistleblowers-report-corruption-village-fund/