Jakarta, Sept 25 (Antara) - Records of the Central Bureau of Statistics
(BPS) reveal that Indonesia was home to some 28.28 million poor people
last March, higher than the 28.17 million recorded in the same period
the year before.
BPS Chief Suryamin said recently that the rise in the number of poor
people could be attributed to the losses incurred by those working in
the agricultural sector as the harvest season had been delayed due to
unfavorable climatic conditions.
A World Bank reported that the rate of reduction of poverty and
inequality in Indonesia had declined, and was only 0.7 percent in
2012-2013. This was the lowest seen in the last decade.
The World Bank has also reported that around 68 million people in
Indonesia almost fell in the "poor" category as their income was
marginally higher than that of those in the "poor families" category.
According to Rizal Ramli, who was the Chief Economic Minister during
Abdurrahman Wahid's term as president, there could be a further rise in
the number of the poor if the incoming government raised the price of
subsidized fuel.
Ramli
added that in addition to these 28.2 million, another 10 million people
nearly fall in the "poor" category. If the price of subsidized fuel is
raised, it would lead to a hike in the cost of transportation and
commodities as well as the inflation rate, leading to another rise in
the number of poor.
"If the next government raises fuel prices,
the number of poor people in Indonesia will most likely rise to 38
million," the former Chief Economic Minister stated.
Moreover, there are 150 million other people who face economic
difficulties due to increase in prices of commodities and
transportation. Ramli suggested that instead of increasing the price of
oil, the concept of cross subsidization should be adopted.
Also, preemptive measures must be taken to prevent any further increase in the number of poor.
Agriculture observer H.S. Dillon, who is also the President's Special
Envoy for Poverty Eradication, noted that the agricultural sector must
be developed to bring down the number of poor in the country.
"Indonesia can reflect on the success of the New Order Government
implemented in the past when the agricultural sector thrived. At that
time, the number of poor had dropped drastically from 40.10 percent to
11.3 percent," Dillon said here on Thursday.
Dillon explained that agriculture should be given primary importance in
the poverty elimination program---some 68 percent of the country's poor
lived in villages and 48 percent of them worked in the agricultural
sector.
If the government revitalizes the agricultural sector through the
expansion of fertile agricultural land in various provinces and
development of adequate irrigation facilities, productivity of the poor
in villages will increase by about 60 to 70 percent.
Dillon further stated that as much as hundred thousand hectares of
productive agricultural land had been turned into roads and palm oil
plantations.
As a result, the Ministry of Agriculture is now carrying out
agriculture development programs. These include a food self-reliance
village development program and one to help people develop yards to grow
food crops.
The program aims to increase the nutritional intake of poor families and help them meet their food requirement.
"If necessary, Indonesia should follow the example of other developing
countries that have been successful in reducing poverty. Indonesia only
needs to repeat the success it saw in 1966 when it saw the highest
decrease in the number of poor in the history of the world's
development," Dillon said.
He also suggested that funding given to 16 ministries to eradicate
poverty should be withdrawn and that the responsibility be given to only
one ministry for its effective management.
"The poverty alleviation funds given to 16 ministries should be
withdrawn and handed over to one ministry. Allocating these funds (to
different ministries) has seen no impact so far as they lacked
coordination," Dillon remarked.
He
added that the program could not be carried out effectively as each of
the ministries followed its own way of functioning.
Furthermore, Public Works Deputy Minister Hermanto Dardak said that
poverty in Indonesia had also been caused by a gap in the economic
development of a number of regions and that the problem could only be
solved by regionalization and mapping out of regions correctly.
"Regionalization can be carried out by concentrating growth centers in
cities, and having development zones so that it (economic development)
could spread to and have an impact in other areas as well," Dardak noted
in a written statement on Sunday.
He said that the strategy aimed at equitable development should be
implemented through intensive intervention on the part of the government
so that surrounding zones eventually develop and the locals' income
improves.
In the meantime, Vivi Alatas, chief economist of the World Bank
said providing and improving access to jobs could reduce poverty and
economic inequality.
"The poor should be assisted by providing them with jobs that improve their income," Vivi Alatas said on Tuesday.
She added that they should have assured access to proper healthcare
facilities and education. This, she said, could increase their
capabilities and help them escape poverty. The World Bank economist
suggested that the government increase the budget allocated to programs
for social welfare.
In 2014, only 0.7 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was
allocated to social assistance programs, which is much lower than what
other developing countries have been setting aside for similar
initiatives. The government of Brazil, for example, earmarked 1.5
percent of its GDP to such social assistance programs, Vivi
noted.***3***
(A014/INE/a014)
EDITED BY INE
(T.SYS/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 25-09-2014 22:15: |
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