NTB Begins Desa Berdaya Transfers for Sumbawa and Bima

Mataram — The West Nusa Tenggara provincial government began transferring assistance under its Desa Berdaya Transformatif program on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, with documents covering recipients in Sumbawa and Bima processed that day.

The program provides IDR 7 million (about US$430) per family, or kepala keluarga (KK), as productive-business capital for families classified as extremely poor. Officials said the provincial government had transferred IDR 7 billion (about US$430,000) to more than 1,000 recipients by Nov. 9. The full first-stage allocation was IDR 36.11 billion (about US$2.2 million) for 5,162 KK, or households.

Ahmad Masyhuri, head of the West Nusa Tenggara Social Affairs, Women's Protection and Child Protection Agency, said the province had signed about 600 disbursement documents over the preceding Saturday and Sunday. The documents covered recipients in Sumbawa and Bima. Transfers were being processed in stages and were expected to reach all first-stage recipients by the end of November.

Why the transfers matter to foreign residents and visitors

The assistance is a regional poverty-reduction program rather than a benefit for foreign residents or visitors. Its practical relevance for people living in West Nusa Tenggara is that the money is intended for approved productive activities, not unrestricted household spending. Recipients submit proposals through village facilitators, and the funds are transferred to their individual accounts.

The provincial government said the assistance could support activities such as livestock, small businesses, tailoring and farming, depending on each recipient's proposal. The program is being rolled out across districts in stages, with Lombok Barat and Mataram reported as having completed distribution and Lombok Timur receiving transfers in part.

The Sumbawa and Bima documents therefore represented an administrative step toward further transfers, not a separate benefit scheme. Officials attributed an earlier delay to a system problem affecting the payment process. The next stated milestone was completion of the remaining first-stage transfers by the end of November.

Sources

• detik.com
• Suara NTB — regional news organisation
• lombok24.com
• Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) — national public broadcaster reporting on NTB’s Desa Berdaya program for extremely poor families
• ntbsatu.com
• ekbisntb.com