'Only a few people enjoy

'Only a few people enjoy
benefit of foreign debt'

The country's foreign debt has reached close to US$77 billion but
in the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) forum being held
until Thursday, more loans are being sought from donors. The
Jakarta Post asked people for their impressions on how the
government was spending the money.

Albert, 25, is an activist with the Indonesian Environmental
Forum (Walhi). He is single and lives in Mampang, South Jakarta:

The government should stop its bad habit of continuously
asking for new loans from foreign countries. It must be stopped
before its too late. The debt is already huge. Indonesia is a
rich country and its natural resources alone could provide most
people with a decent livelihood.

To make things worse, the government does not improve the
people's welfare with the money. It is misused by a great number
of state officials. As a result, widespread poverty is not
alleviated while the officials get richer.

Alfian, 32, a resident of Kapuk Muara. His house burned down
last Sunday:

We are born already burdened with the country's foreign debt.
Sometimes the debt is used for development and the public enjoys
the benefit of projects, such as the development of roads.

However, I still feel that only a few of people really gain
from the resources. As for the poor, we get almost nothing. Even
the development of roads is meaningless to us as we don't own any
vehicles.

To be honest, I don't feel like I benefit from the loans at
all.

Terry, 34, works at a non-governmental organization in Central
Jakarta. She lives with her husband and newborn son in South
Jakarta:

The government projects using foreign loans remain unclear.
Everyone is at a loss about the distribution and control of the
funds. Moreover, there are conditions like corruption eradication
that come with the money, which makes us even more dependent on,
and accountable to, the donor countries.

Many commentators agree that the CGI is better than IMF, but I
think at the end of the day, they are essentially the same.

The government only seems to focus on physical development
such as roads, malls and so on, all of which eventually boost
consumerism.

--The Jakarta Post