Local leaders seek ways to narrow gap

Local leaders are utilizing innovation and creativity unique to their own regions to reduce income inequality as part of the goals in human development under President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration.

One example is Hasto Wardoyo, the regent of Kulonprogo, Special Region of Yogyakarta. He said the inequality problem in Kulonprogo came from overconsumption of external products, even though the people in the region could produce the goods by themselves.

"In 2012, we launched a movement called 'Defend and Buy Kulonprogo' [Beta dan Beli Kulonprogo]," he said during the annual Indonesia Development Forum 2018 in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Hasto said the Kulonprogo administration had started the campaign by obliging students and civil servants to buy local batik clothing with a local pattern called geblek renteng. A year later, he told Kulonprogo's tap water company (PDAM) to create bottled water with a local brand called AirKu.

"My people were living lavish lives by consuming bottled water every day and [during] occasions such as wedding ceremonies. Consumption reached 6 million [bottles] per month," Hasto said.

After campaigning for years, 2 million out of a total of 6 million bottles of water consumed in Kulonprogo per'month is from AirKu. The program, he said, had helped the local tap water company become profitable again and actively expand.

"We are now building pipes to the New Yogyakarta International Airport, which is located in our region. Airport management Angkasa Pura I has agreed that our local tap water company Regions pushed to develop unique solutions to reduce inequality Human development to be government's priority in 2019 [supplies] water for the airport," he said. 

Meanwhile, Syamsuddin Hamid, the regent of Pangkajene Islands (Pangkep) in South Sulawesi, decided to more than double the education budget from Rp 40 billion (US$2.79 million) to Rp 100 billion and establish a policy of "one island, one school" to solve the inequality problem in his region.

Like many people living on Pangkajene's small islands, he .said their children faced difficulties reaching school during high tide.

As for higher education, Syamsuddin signed a memorandum of understanding with 70 universities in Indonesia to ensure that students from Pangkep studying on those campuses would not have to pay tuition until after graduation.

In a previous national meeting, Jokowi called for regional administrations to create more focused developmental planning and attain higher efficiency in execution.

He stressed that investment in human resources was the "second major stage" of development after investing in infrastructure, adding that the government would continue disbursing its funds in both areas to further advance the economy.

Meanwhile, during the'forum on Tuesday, National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) head Bambang Brodjonegoro said each region had'to learn from success stories of other regions. He said it was a "timely" moment as regional elections had recently been held in 171 regions.

"We hope that in a post-regional election situation like this, the best practice in the regions can be a reference for the elected leaders to formulate their development plans," he said.

With the emphasis on human development, Bambang previously said the government had aimed to decrease the poverty rate to between 8.5 and 9.5 percent in 2019, down from the 10.12 percent recorded in September 2017, according to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data.

The government also targeted for the 2019 Human Development Index to reach 72 points, up from the 70.81 points recorded in 2017. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is aimed at 4.8 to 5.2 percent, down from the 5.5 percent seen last year.

Taking into account those components, Bambang said the government projected the economy would expand between 5.4 and 5.8 percent in 2019.

Speaking at Tuesday's forum. Vice President Jusuf Kalla said different policies were needed in each region based on their uniqueness and characteristics. The law on regional autonomy passed after 1998 was a way to develop regions.

"The concept of autonomy is that every region competes with each other efficiently so they will push each other's potential to boost the economy," he said, adding that in the past, economic inequality had triggered local rebellions.

Outgoing East Java Governor Soekarwo said in a large economy like his province, involving the private sector in public services was important as high reliance on government budget would slow development programs.

Anton Hermansyah THE JAKARTA POST/JAKARTA