Poverty our main problem<\/p>\n
A news report said last week that a woman gave birth at a
\ngarbage dump site in Tangerang. The poor woman cried desperately
\nfor help while in labor, and finally some passersby helped her.
\nThe woman and the baby were rushed to a nearby hospital. They
\nwere saved, but it was not clear who would pay the hospital fees.
\nWhat we know is that the women said that she could not afford to
\nraise her new born baby.<\/p>\n
Such a news was by all means touching. And most of us may say
\nthat life is tough.<\/p>\n
The woman is just one of millions of stories on poverty which
\nhas been overwhelming a majority of people in the country,
\nespecially since 1998.<\/p>\n
In such a situation our anger came to a boiling point after we
\nfound out what the Raudhatul Jannah foundation did. The
\nfoundation was claimed (by House Speaker Akbar Tandjung) to be
\nauthorized to distribute staple food for the poor as part of the
\nsocial safety net. (Akbar was found guilty and sentenced to three
\nyears for defrauding the public of Rp 40 billion in this project.
\nUnfortunately he refused to be jailed feeling innocent.)<\/p>\n
While we are now dizzy with the Bali mayhem, we should not
\nforget this old problem: Poverty.<\/p>\n
Poverty cannot be solved through charity. Improving the
\npeople's skills and providing them with job opportunities might
\nanswer the poverty. Unfortunately job opportunities will not come
\nabout unless there is new investment. And investors will not
\ninvest their money unless security is fully guaranteed.<\/p>\n
We still have three promising industrial sectors which should
\nbe further explored to curb poverty: Mining and energy,
\nplantations and forestry. Unfortunately we have yet to manage
\nthese three industries properly.<\/p>\n
-- Kompas, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/poverty-our-main-problem-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }