HST wins the most independent village award in South Kalimantan

South Kalimantan Governor Sahbirin Noor symbolically hands over PDTT Ministry award to HST Regent Aulia Oktafiandi (second right) for village development acceleration at the celebration of the province's 74th anniversary in Banjarmasin, Wednesday (August 14, 2024). (ANTARA/HO-Pemkab HST)

Barabai, South Kalimantan (ANTARA) - The District Government of Hulu Sungai Tengah won the Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration (PDTT) Ministry for the most independent villages among 13 districts and cities in South Kalimantan.

Regent Aulia Oktafiandi in Barabai, Hulu Sungai Tengah, Said on Thursday that HST has 93 or the largest number of independent village in South Kalimantan.

“In fact, based on the 2024 Village Building Index (IDM) of the PDTT Ministry, there is no longer any extremely underdeveloped and underdeveloped village here,” he pointed out.

This achievement in 2024, he acknowledged, cannot be separated from the performance of all regional officials and the community in alleviating poverty in villages. This is also thanks to the district's 2023 flagship program, Meratus Expedition.

“Meratus Expedition was implemented continuously by visiting and providing various free services to communities of villages which were still underdeveloped at that time. (We provided) health service, education, and other social services,” he said.

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Due to that commitment and hard work, the status of all villages in Hulu Sungai Tengah have improved to become independent, advanced and developing.

With no more underdeveloped villages, he said, it shows that community welfare has grown and developed better.

HST Regent was proud and expressed his gratitude for this achievement. Even the involvement of village heads also had a big influence on the commitment and collaboration with the local government in developing the village..

Head of HST Community and Village Empowerment (PMD) Office Eddy Rahmawan said that this remarkable achievement was a form of the Regent commitment in encouraging regional officials to keep innovating in providing services, especially for villages, who formerly were underdeveloped or extremely underdeveloped.

“Alhamdulillah, thanks to solid cooperation, this year there are no more underdeveloped and extremely underdeveloped villages in Hulu Sungai Tengah,” said Eddy.

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