Yus-Soetadi promise free education

Yus-Soetadi promise free education

Concerned that many children have no opportunity to continue
their studies due to economic hardship, Depok mayoral candidate
Yus Ruswandi is pledging to make education free for students from
poor families if he is elected.

To ensure this happens, Yus and running mate Soetadi
Dipowongso have proposed to establish fee-free schools in slum
areas.

Yus and Soetadi were nominated by a coalition formed by the
United Development Party (PPP), the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Struggle (PDI-P), and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS).

The former Depok deputy mayor argued that the nine-year long
compulsory education program imposed by the central government
would continue to be ineffective if it was not backed up by local
initiatives for free education in poor areas.

Yus stressed the need to lower school fees across the board so
that Depok residents were not burdened by high education costs.

"Free education is part of our efforts to eradicate
poverty ... Better education would empower the poor and allow
them to improve their welfare by themselves," Yus argued.

Yus said his administration would pay serious attention to the
degraded Depok environment because the municipality functioned as
a water preservation and flood control area for Jakarta and
Bekasi.

Speaking about his economic development program, Yus said the
pair would focus on the improvement of trade and the service
sector.

They would also make it easy for investors to start businesses
in other sectors, including housing and other environmentally
friendly cottage industries, he said.

Yus said the development of those sectors would accommodate
the quickly growing number of job-seekers in the municipality.

Along with helping people start small-scale enterprises, the
administration would open more training centers to provide
workers with new skills, Yus said.

Building new roads and widening existing roads in areas prone
to traffic jams would be measures prioritized in Depok's
infrastructure development plan, he said.

Yus said he would also push for the development of toll roads
by the central government.

"Chaotic traffic congestion is a major problem for Depok
residents, many of whom are daily commuters to Jakarta, therefore
we must address this problem immediately," he said.

Yus Ruswandi was born in Ciamis, West Java, Sept. 17, 1949
Recent education: State Administrative Institute (LAN) in
Jakarta, 1986
Organizations: Depok chapter of the Indonesian National Sports
Committee (KONI), the Bogor Regental Soccer Team (Persikabo).

Soetadi Dipowongso was born in Klaten, Central Java, July 17,
1947
Recent education: Degree from a Semarang-based university,
Central Java.
Organizations: The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-
P) and Depok chapter of the Indonesian Muslim Council (MMI).