`Development needs paradigm shift'

`Development needs paradigm shift'

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State Minister/Head of the National Development Planning Board
(Bappenas) Kwik Kian Gie on Wednesday called for a paradigm shift
in development programs in order to help improve the country's
human development index (HDI).

Kwik, known for his often sharp criticism of government
policies, said the current growth-oriented development strategy
had failed to bring about improved public welfare and thus must
be redirected to be more in favor of the poor.

The minister blamed growth-oriented development strategy that
disregarded equal distribution of resources as being responsible
for Indonesia's failure to improve its people's lives as shown by
the country's poor performance in a United Nations HDI report.

"Gross domestic product is merely figures that do not reflect
whether the citizen gets equal benefits from development. After
more than 30 years of constant economic growth we see that the
gap between the rich and the poor is widening," he told a press
briefing on Wednesday after the launch of the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP)'s report on the Human Development
Index here.

Kwik was commenting on the report, which said that of 175
countries surveyed, Indonesia ranked 112th in the Human
Development Index, below Vietnam, the Philippines and all other
Southeast Asian countries.

The report said that among other countries in Southeast Asia,
Indonesia was the poorest in terms of child mortality rate,
access to clean water and sanitation, nutrition and access to
schooling.

Separately, former minister for resettlement and regional
infrastructure Erna Witoelar said that it was high time for the
government to start formulating policies in favor of the poor.

She said a greater portion of the state budget should be
allocated on education, health, public transport and poverty
eradication programs.

"However, the government should not repeat past mistakes by
letting much of the state budget be embezzled by officials before
reaching the target. The budget has to be drawn up according to
public needs," she told The Jakarta Post.

Erna also said that the government needed to set out an
integrated approach in its development strategy. She cited the
fact that some ministries often worked according to their own
agendas, and failed to cooperate with other ministries.

An analyst from the state-owned, Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada
University, Revrisond Baswir, told the Post that growth-oriented
development had in fact been criticized all over the world for
its failure to improve public welfare.

But, despite the criticism the Indonesian government could not
do much to eliminate poverty as it still had strong ties with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organization known for its
stringent market orientation and anti-state intervention stance,
he said.

He said such ties had hampered the government in creating
policies that would benefit the poor.

"To boost employment, the Indonesian government should not
heed to the fund's directives in tighten fiscal policies as this
would prevent the country from eradicating poverty," he said.

Revrisond criticized President Megawati Soekarnoputri's plan
to launch projects worth trillions of rupiah, a move he said
would bring little benefit to the country's economy.

"Instead of spending money on such high-profile projects, the
government should focus on job-creating projects. More of the
state budget should be earmarked for the agriculture ministry,
ministry of trade, and other ministries that have a direct link
with the people's welfare," he said.