No more poverty within 10 years, expert says
No more poverty within 10 years, expert says
JAKARTA (JP): The government expects to free its people of
poverty throughout Indonesia in another ten years, an expert
said.
Mubyarto, an assistant to the state minister/chairman of the
national development planning for improvement of equity and the
handling of poverty, told reporters yesterday that within the
next five years the number of poor people will be reduced from
25.9 million to 12 million.
"At the end of the seventh Five-Year Development Program (in
the year 2004), we expect that there will be no more poor people
in Indonesia," he said.
Through the least-developed villages aid program, the
government has provided Rp 400 billion (US$ 178 million) in
grants to the poor, to help them improve the quality of their
lives, he said.
He also pointed out to the new policy of the minister of
finance, which provides collateral-free loans of up to Rp 50
million (US$ 22,200) for small-scale businesses belonging to the
poor.
Speaking after a seminar on the development of informal
economy, as a program of the celebration of the 11th anniversary
of Open University, Mubyarto said the aid program for the least-
developed villages is a way to solve poverty.
The program can be claimed a success if, between five and 10
years, the number of poor people decreases, Mubyarto said.
Success
Another way to judge the success is by evaluating the increase
of their income, he added.
Mubyarto also urged rich people to pay attention to the
condition of the less-privileged around them.
"The rich can offer helping hands to the poor," he said.
The program has been disrupted for a while due to rapid
development of the modern economic sector, he later explained.
"However, the informal sector has survived, although it has to
undergo involution, where the condition is becoming more complex
and difficult to understand," he said.
According to Mubyarto, the program helps mobilize the
people's economy.
"We should have trust in the poor, that they are capable
enough to improve their lives," he said.
Bambang Ismawan, head of the Bina Swadaya Organization, told
the seminar that the informal sector is undertaken by people who
do not have lots of capital.
"They rely on their own forces." Independence is their
characteristic, he said.
The informal sector is usually weak in organization, human
resources, productivity and bargaining power, he added. (05)