Dessy Sagita & Putri Prameshwari – A recent survey by the Reform Institute shows that nearly 72 percent of Indonesians hope the new administration will address their welfare concerns – far more than the 14 percent who want corruption to be the top priority.
The results of the survey are perhaps a reflection of people's dissatisfaction with how the issues of health care, education and poverty have been addressed, despite government claims that as many as 2.5 million people have been lifted out of poverty since 2008.
The UN's recent Human Development Report ranks Indonesia 111th out of 182 countries studied in terms of living standards. Given this, the country's new ministers appointed to tackle welfare issues and poverty have a mammoth task ahead of them.
The Coordinating Ministry for People's Welfare under Aburizal Bakrie was widely criticized for its handling of the Lapindo mudflow disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java. The disaster has displaced about 15,000 people, many of whom are still waiting for promised compensation from PT Lapindo Brantas, a Bakrie group company that was operating oil and gas wells in Sidoarjo when mud began to flow from a fissure close to a well in May 2006.
"The Lapindo mudflow is the biggest failure of the previous government – it should end immediately," said Zainal Abidin, the director of research and development at the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), adding that resolving the compensation dispute should be the next welfare minister's top priority.
Zainal also said the ministry should improve disaster management measures and speed up the recovery and rehabilitation of disaster-affected areas. "The next minister should pay particular attention to the many earthquake survivors in West Java and West Sumatra," he said.
In addition to its handling of major disasters, government action in a number of other sectors – health, education, transportation and environment – has also left much to be desired.
Zainal said that despite government claims that the poverty rate had declined, there was much left to be done by the next minister, including addressing controversial issues such as state health insurance (Jamkesmas) and the National Program for Community Empowerment (PNPM). Bakrie recently said that Jamkesmas coverage for about 16 million people would be reviewed due to the decline in the poverty rate.
"Both are relatively good programs but they are still flawed and need to be fixed and improved, instead of being cut," Zainal said.
In the education sector, school enrollment improved with 94.7 percent of school-aged children now attending elementary school, but Zainal said the distribution of the state budget for education remained problematic. Many contract teachers, he said, still lacked job security and received low wages.
Transportation also remains a major concern. While the EU partially lifted its ban on Indonesian aircraft, accidents remain common across the country's air, sea, road and rail networks.
Environmental issues are in dire need of attention, with the next environment minister faced with reducing carbon emissions, addressing climate change and fighting illegal logging.
Even the Ministry of Religious Affair was not without scandal this year, with a watchdog alleging the annual hajj pilgrimage was mired in graft.
Given all this, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's declaration during his inauguration on Tuesday that the main aim of his next five years in office would be improving people's welfare was a welcome start.