Officials fear empowering the masses<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): The concept of empowering the people to
\npromote national development has been slow to catch on among
\ngovernment officials, State Minister for National Development
\nPlanning Ginandjar Kartasasmita said yesterday.<\/p>\n
The concept has gained acceptance and been promoted in a
\nnumber of publications around the world, Ginandjar said.<\/p>\n
\"The sad thing is that putting it into practice here has not
\nbeen easy,\" the minister said during a seminar to review the
\nnational development strategy.<\/p>\n
The three-day seminar is being held to commemorate the 15th
\nanniversary of the University of Muhammadiyah in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
Ginandjar, who chairs the National Development Planning Board,
\nsaid many thinkers and policymakers here are not aware of the
\ngains empowerment could bring to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"They are holding on to old theories and cannot adjust to the
\ndemands for justice,\" he said. \"They are not comfortable with the
\nconcept of people participating in development.\"<\/p>\n
In fact, he added, \"They are terrified of the people.\"<\/p>\n
Many government officials still feel that the top-down
\napproach is the best way. They believe that the people do not
\nknow what is best for them and therefore need constant guidance
\nand supervision, he said.<\/p>\n
This results in government policies that are ineffective and
\ninefficient, and eventually obstructs progress itself, he added.<\/p>\n
Such thinkers and policymakers feel that poor people are poor
\nbecause they are ignorant, lazy and in need of constant guidance,
\nGinandjar said. The anti-poverty drive has become more like
\ncharity than an effort to empower the poor.<\/p>\n
He recalled that a governor once remarked that nobody was poor
\nin his province. \"They are just ignorant,\" he said, quoting the
\ngovernor without mentioning his name.<\/p>\n
The minister said that one government policy that does seek to
\nempower the poor is the Presidential Aid for Backward Villages,
\nknown by its Indonesian acronym IDT.<\/p>\n
Under the program, the government allocates Rp 20 million per
\nvillage classified as poor. The money is to be used as seed
\ncapital for people to start their own small enterprises.<\/p>\n
Launched in 1994, Ginandjar said the IDT program has been
\n\"quite successful.\"<\/p>\n
The few failures that there have been, he said, were due to
\nvillage heads who embezzled the funds.<\/p>\n
Muhammadiyah Chairman Amien Rais in his presentation said that
\nthe Indonesian economy is now too dominated by powerful
\nconglomerates.<\/p>\n
\"That means that the quest to attain social justice and shared
\nprosperity has become even more difficult. What we see is now the
\nrich getting richer and the poor poorer,\" said Amien, who is also
\na political lecturer at the local Gadjah Mada University.<\/p>\n
Other speakers scheduled to address the seminar include
\neconomist Mubyarto and political scholars Sayidiman
\nSuryohadiprodjo and Sofjan Wanandi. (02\/har)<\/p>",
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