Poverty eradication first

Poverty eradication first

As our Independence Day approaches (Aug. 17) let us ponder the
multidimensional problems facing the country, including poverty.
In fact, poverty has been the government's headache ever since
Indonesia gained its independence from the Dutch through a long
struggle and huge sacrifices, both in terms of material and
lives.

Although news reports on corruption, collusion and nepotism
(KKN) have become almost daily fixtures in the media, we should
not turn a deaf ear to the cries of the poor who make up the
majority of the country's population of over 200 million. Poverty
breeds ignorance, and ignorance breeds the inability to keep
abreast of developments and changes, not to mention that the poor
are deprived of access to good education and proper health care.

Our legislators should give first priority to eradicating
poverty to the extent that the majority of the people could live
better lives, if the legislators want to give meaning to the
celebration of our Independence Day.

Corruption is of course our next greatest concern. A nation
that is plagued by corruption will never get anywhere, and the
country's problems will not be as seriously attended to as we
would like.

In this context, law enforcers should have the political will
to eradicate KKN, to stop the greedy from manipulating state
funds and to rid the nation of all sorts of white-collar crimes.
Justice and welfare within society will certainly prevail
whenever the supremacy of law is upheld consistently. This will
only be possible if each and every one of us thinks and acts in
the interest of the public and does away with egoism and narrow-
mindedness.

GANDHI SUKARDI, Jakarta