Help for the poor

First there was an appeal, then a threat of compulsion. Now a final step has been taken to make the threat come true. By Presidential Decision No. 92/1996 dated Dec. 4, the government is requiring industrialists and business companies to set side 2 percent of their net incomes to help the poor.

Actually, as some of them have said, our businesspeople do not object to contributing to efforts aimed at helping the poor, especially since 2 percent of their net incomes means little to them. The question is, why then have their contributions been so slow in coming?

There seem to be several possible answers to this question. First, they may doubt that their contributions will actually reach the poor. Second, our businessmen are already feeling too much burden from levies and are trying to avoid paying still more. Third, they may be unaware of the degree of suffering that exists among our poor. Fourth -- let's hope we are wrong -- it may be pure selfishness on their part.

If the first two possibilities are the problem, the government has the duty to convince our businesspeople that their contributions will be well-managed and that the levies (official and unofficial) which they now have to pay will be cut back to the absolute necessary minimum. The public, too, must be convinced that the money will be properly managed.

If the last two possibilities are the problem, the question is one of conscience and sensitivity, but it is hard to imagine that there are any big companies or rich businesspeople who cannot see the poverty that exists in our country.

-- Republika, Jakarta