RI must invest in human development
RI must invest in human development
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The era of decentralization has actually opened a great
possibility for the nation to gradually move its development
pattern from natural resources-based to human resources-based
development.
Ascobat Gani, a prominent advocate of family planning and
human development, said on Saturday that the growth-oriented
development in the Soeharto era that continues until now had cost
the nation a lot.
The "trilogy of development" during Soeharto's years put too
much emphasis on security and economic growth and did not even
touch on human development, he said.
"Forests were cleared for the sake of achieving the target of
growth figures," Ascobat said.
Surprisingly, the current administration is repeating such
mistakes.
What is needed is a paradigm shift from natural wealth
"extraction" to "innovation" in human development, Ascobat said.
It is not unusual, he said, for people to overlook human
"capital".
East Nusa Tenggara, he said, citing an example, has a
population of 3.6 million people but it is often regarded as a
poor province.
"People are simply unaware that the large population there is
an asset," said Ascobat.
The government, he said, needs to have a kind of "trilogy of
development" but with an emphasis on human development.
With a "trilogy of human development", each region would be
required to invest significantly in education and health
services, two basic elements of human development.
Regencies should allocate at least Rp 25,000 (US$2.80) per
capita to provide basic health services, and Rp 1,000,000 per
student to give them basic education, Ascobat said.
"Today's figure for health costs is equal to two packets of
cigarettes," he said on the sidelines of a discussion on family
planning and reproductive health hosted by The Jakarta Post and
Johns Hopkins University.
He added that the regency that invests the most in health is
Badung on Bali island, which allocates US$2.20 per capita for
health services.
Legislator Surya Chandra Surapaty, who was one of the speakers
in the discussion, talked about how each region yearned to have a
public hospital as if the building was the only prerequisite to
health.
"They forget that clean water is also an element for achieving
a healthy life," he said, adding that almost all regents had
submitted a similar request.
On education, Indonesia only invests about Rp 450,000 per
student, less than half of the minimum requirement.
Indonesia invests around 1.4 percent of its gross national
product on education, compared with a global average of Rp 4.8
percent.
Indonesia, which is losing out in global competition, will
continue to lose out in the global economy unless it starts to
invest significantly in human development.
There have been encouraging signs, though, he said, citing the
easternmost province of Papua which allocates 30 percent of its
yearly budget to education and 15 percent to health.
Other regions, at least the rich ones such as East Kalimantan
and Aceh, should follow suit.
As for poor provinces and regencies in terms of natural
resources, the central government should give a helping hand to
ensure that those local administrations can provide financing for
basic health services and education.