Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA) – Deputy Home Affairs Minister John Wempi Wetipo has emphasized that regional budgets (APBD) of districts, cities, or provincial governments were not utilized for the distribution of 10 million Red-and-White flags ahead of Independence Day.
“Not a single amount of people’s money (among APBD sources) was used to spend on the flags of this 10 million movement,” Wetipo assured at a press conference in Banda Aceh, Aceh, on Saturday.
The conference was held after the distribution of national flags in Banda Aceh ahead of the 77th anniversary of Indonesian independence.
Wetipo said that many people had assumed that the movement for distributing 10 million Red-and-White flags, which was initiated by the Home Affairs Ministry, had used regional budgets.
“Please do not think that (this movement) used the existing district/city budgets. It did not,” he added.
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The idea of the 10 million flags program was initiated by the ministry’s Directorate of Legal Politics as an effort to enliven the celebrations of the 77th anniversary of Independence Day next week and ignite the spirit of patriotism, Wetipo informed.
Hence, as the idea came from the ministry itself, the Red-and-White flags were directly distributed by the ministry to all districts, cities, and provinces throughout Indonesia to make the movement a success, he added.
“We have sent the flags to the district heads, mayors so that they can simultaneously distribute the Red-and-White flags to all Indonesian people,” he said.
According to him, the movement was launched simultaneously in three cities, namely Merauke, Banda Aceh, and Surabaya.
“The movement to distribute 10 million flags within the framework of the 77th anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia (Independence Day) was marked by the presence of the Home Affairs Minister in Merauke, and today, I am in Aceh for the same movement,” Wetipo remarked.
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