Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – "Helping those who help themselves" could describe the government's latest approach to tackling the problems of poverty and unemployment, with community development programs at its core.
Under the National Community Empowerment Program, the government will encourage rural and urban communities to determine by themselves the type of welfare development projects they need. It will then support the projects through funding and guidance on their implementation.
Some Rp 14 trillion (US$1.5 billion) is allocated in the 2007 budget for the ambitious program, which is expected to improve conditions for the needy in 69,929 villages and subdistricts. The funds are considered sufficient to provide about 5 million jobs a year.
Each village has to submit a project proposal for approval for funds, ranging from Rp 250 million to Rp 1 billion. Infrastructure, health and education-related projects will be encouraged, while those causing environmental degradation and the socially sensitive construction of religious prayer-houses will be denied.
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Boediono said the community-based program was a synergy and enhancement of two similar programs – the "District Development Program" and "Urban Poverty Alleviation Program" – which have been carried out since the financial crisis struck in 1998.
"What we want to do now is bring the program to a wider scale, reaching every community in the country," he said in a media briefing Thursday.
As of 2006, the two programs have reached 39,282 villages and subdistricts in 2,600 districts, or roughly half of the country's total communities.
The government also will continue its rural health insurance, tuition-free basic education and "conditional direct cash subsidy" programs for the poor through related ministries.
The programs are in line with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's recent state-of-the-nation address. However, the speech caused controversy, with the government accused of whitewashing the reality of poverty and unemployment by providing outdated data. The poverty rate was said to be 16 percent, while unemployment reportedly affected 10.4 percent of the 220 million population.
The government targets lowering the poverty rate to 8.2 percent and its unemployment to 5.1 percent by 2009.
Boediono said the projects could become a development role model, citing an independent audit from Moores Rowland showing that the programs were able to cut costs by half compared to government-run ones. Graft levels also were less than 1 percent.
"The projects will be carried out transparently, accountably, and with full participation of the community, particularly women. Funding will be directly disbursed to the communities, with no project middlemen," Boediono said, mentioning success stories of a community irrigation system in North Sumatra and bridges in Central Sulawesi.