Nations urged to assist weak, vulnerable sectors

By T. Sima Gunawan

ISTANBUL, Turkey (JP): Indonesia urged world leaders yesterday not to marginalize the most vulnerable layers of society.

The assistant to the Minister of Public Housing, Suyono, told the UN Conference on Human Settlements II that governments have the responsibility to facilitate "the weakest and most vulnerable sectors" through poverty eradication policies and strategies, including human resource and capacity building.

"It is also important that access to employment opportunities and the provision of low-cost housing units are ensured," he said before the general exchange of views on the second day of the Habitat II Conference.

"While these policies are indeed the responsibility of governments with the cooperation of the international community, it is also important that the private sectors' initiatives should be tapped for these purposes," he said.

Habitat II, which will continue until June 14, has two main issues: shelter for all and sustainable human settlements.

Negotiations of a Conference committee are still underway to decide the reference on housing: whether it is a right or a need.

The Non-Aligned Movement made it clear on Monday that "shelter is a basic human right." But the U.S. said that the right to adequate housing is a component of existing human rights.

The U.S. has proposed that reference to housing be considered more as needs, aspirations and goals rather than explicit human rights, as it apparently worries over the demand of free housing for those who need it.

Shelter for all has been central to the national housing policy for over two decades, according to Suyono. He said that the policy is focused on three main goals: expanding the availability of housing; promoting home ownership, especially in urban areas; and improving the quality of urban neighborhoods. One of the central policies to achieve the goals is the Kampong Improvement Program (KIP). He said that the program, which is designed to upgrade housing in poor neighborhoods, now operates in 500 cities and includes infrastructure improvements.

The World Bank, which helps finance the KIP, hails the program as an "urban success story".

Suyono also told the Conference that Indonesia is committed to sustainable rural development, which is essential to ensure sustainable urban settlements.

"In this way, the magnetic attraction of the megacities -- especially to the rural poor -- as well as the lure of the bright lights and employment opportunities for youths, can be encountered, to a certain extent, by the availability of greater opportunities in rural areas."

Indonesia has the fourth largest population in the world. Between 1970 and 1990, the population of Indonesia rose from 120 million to nearly 180 million. Today, over 34 percent of Indonesia's population lives in urban areas. In 2020, the urban population will reach between 50 and 60 percent.

The phenomena of rapid urbanization in Indonesia is aggravated by the trends of globalization and liberalization, which have boosted urban economics in developing countries, Suyono said.

"But the very success has created an increasing gap between cities and smaller towns, villages and the countryside. The lure of the cities and the incessant search for employment opportunities -- especially by the youth -- has thus spurred on rapid rural migration to urban centers worldwide," he said.

He said Indonesia has been successful in reducing poverty levels from approximately 60 percent in the late 1960s, to 13 percent in 1993. It is projected that the poverty levels will drop to 10 percent by the end of this century. However, he admitted that there has been a widening gap within large urban communities like Jakarta, Surabaya and Medan, which has resulted in the escalation of urban poverty.

"Moreover, the rapid expansion of industry in such major cities has also posed serious problems for the environment, threatening both the quality of life and the natural resources base, which is critical for the sustainability of such growth and development," he said.

The World Bank estimates that the environmental costs of air and water pollution in Jakarta are US$1 billion per year and losses due to floods are $26 million per year.

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