Six Manggarai Barat factions back revised 2026 budget focused on quake recovery

Labuan Bajo — Six factions of the Manggarai Barat Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) have agreed to a draft regulation revising the regency’s 2026 budget, with post-earthquake recovery and basic public services highlighted as priorities, according to the regency’s official information portal.

The agreement was reached at a plenary meeting of the DPRD in Manggarai Barat, East Nusa Tenggara, on Thursday, 27 August 2026 local time, during deliberations on the draft regional regulation on the revised 2026 budget, Info Mabar reported.

The six factions named in the regency’s official report are NasDem Plus, Bintang Kebangkitan Bangsa, Demokrat, Gabungan Nurani Sejahtera, Harapan Baru and Gerindra, all of which delivered final positions supporting the draft after a sequence of formal budget discussions and commission reviews.

According to the regency’s information service, the meeting followed stages including the submission of a financial memorandum, general views from factions, responses from the regional government, commission deliberations and a Budget Agency review.

The session concluded with the signing of a joint agreement between the Manggarai Barat administration and DPRD leaders on the results of deliberations over the draft revised budget, the official report said. The draft is intended to be enacted as a regional regulation, with Regent Edistasius Endi and DPRD leaders signing the agreement during the plenary meeting.

Earthquake recovery as a priority

The regency’s communications service framed the revised budget as an instrument to accelerate recovery from the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Flores on 15 August 2026, while also strengthening access to basic services and regional finances.

At the 19th plenary meeting of the DPRD on the same day, Regent Edistasius Endi told councillors that the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) had committed to a more consistent role in post-earthquake reconstruction in Manggarai Barat, following formal talks with the regency government.

Endi said accelerated damage assessment would be vital to ensure BNPB could move quickly on reconstruction for homes and infrastructure classified as severely, moderately or lightly damaged. He also explained that the administration had allocated funding in the revised budget for feasibility study documentation to align local reconstruction projects with BNPB’s national infrastructure schedule.

According to the regent’s remarks reported by Info Mabar, BNPB’s schedule for major infrastructure projects includes an estimated allocation of more than Rp200 billion in 2027 and a total of Rp1.032 trillion through to 2031, with Manggarai Barat seeking to secure reconstruction work within those national priorities.

Fiscal pressure and national context

The Manggarai Barat budget revision is taking place against a tighter fiscal backdrop for local governments across Indonesia. A national analysis by the Regional Autonomy Monitoring Committee (KPPOD) noted that many local administrations are revising their 2026 budgets or key policy and ceiling documents amid pressure from reduced transfers from the central government.

The KPPOD assessment described increased fiscal pressure on regional governments as they adjust spending plans to reflect changes in transfer revenue and, in some cases, seek to strengthen locally generated income to maintain public services and development programmes.

In parallel national reporting, local leaders have raised concerns that cuts in transfer-to-region allocations (TKD) in the 2026 state budget have narrowed their fiscal space and forced them to rework spending priorities, including disaster response and reconstruction.

For Manggarai Barat, the regency’s official communications emphasise that the revised 2026 budget is expected to underpin faster post-earthquake recovery, support basic public services and reinforce regional finances. However, the official materials summarising the DPRD plenary meetings do not publish a detailed breakdown of the revised expenditure ceiling or the exact amount earmarked specifically for earthquake response and reconstruction.

Regent Endi has previously stated that Rp13 billion has been allocated in the 2026 budget for emergency earthquake response under the unexpected expenditure line, supplemented by Rp20 billion in presidential assistance for immediate relief, while reconstruction funding is to follow once the emergency phase and assessments are completed.

Sources

• Detik.com Bali/Nusra - "Tanggap Darurat Gempa, Manggarai Barat Siapkan Rp 13 M Bagikan 51 Ton Beras"
• KPPOD - "Banyak Pemda Ubah Postur Anggaran 2026, KPPOD Sebut Tekanan Fiskal Daerah Meningkat"
• Kontan.co.id - "Uang dari Pusat Berkurang, Pemda Mulai Rombak APBD 2026"
• Info Mabar - Official Information Portal of Manggarai Barat Regency Government