The fifteenth CGI (Consultative Group on Indonesia) meeting was held June 14, 2006 at Bank Indonesia. About eigth cabinet ministers attended the opening session with lead speakers Dr Boediono, the Chief Economics Minister; Dr Sri Mulyani, the Finance Minister and Adm.Widodo, the Chief Security Minister. dr Andrew Steer. Country Director for Indonesia of the World Bank, presided over the sessions. Two publications, Investing for Growth and Recovery, prepared by the World Bank Jakarta Office, and Preliminary Damage and Loss Assessment of the Yogyakarta and Central Java Natural Disaster , prepared by BAPPENAS the National Planning Agency, the Local Governments of Yogyakarta and Central Java and International partners (World Bank, Asian Development Bank) was issued to participants.
Overall, the reports by Boediono and Sri Mulyani on macro economic management was optimistic: the strengthening of the rupiah over the past 4 months, government budget deficit at 0.5 percent of GDP; debt to GDP ratio down to 47 percent; inflation planned at single digit throughout the next six months.
Donor representatives made their commitment speeches about continued assistance to Indonesia, but no major decision was made about assistance to Yogyakarta and Central Java. Press reports speak of USD 3 billion for Yogyakarta/Central Java, about the same figure for international assistance to India in 2001, and Pakistan in 2005, though lives lost in India and Pakistan were well above 50.000. The high figure is attributed to the need to rebuild of homes and buildings destroyed or heavily damaged, and the higher number of Indonesians wounded during the earthquake of May 27, 2006.
Everyone at the meeting agreed that governance was the central issue. Somehow, during the presentations I began to muse that beyond the talk about boxes, charts, figures, time lines and target dates, I felt that there was a bit too much of linear technocracy thinking. Discussions about road “maps” and “architecture” of the recovery process need to consider the more fundamental human and cultural factors.
In essence, we need more thinking about “horticulture” than “architecture”. However neat the plans on the drawing boards and however sophisticated the tools of development planning, it will be humans who will do the implementation on the ground. Team work and team spirit is more cultural than technocracy. Nurturing institutions require the appropriate implantation of seed, applying the right amount of water for plants and saps to grow, the right amount of sunlight to give light to nascent networks of cooperation among disparate groups. There will be hits and misses, and even social glitches and crashing of social gears along the way so long as 36 million Indonesians live below the poverty line, 10 million openly unemployed and 60 million receiving direct cash transfers until the end of 2006.
A strong dose of humility in development and recovery planning is needed by both donor agencies and Indonesian officials.
Juwono Sudarsono Start Blogging
Minister of Defense Republic of Indonesia Menhan Menteri Pertahanan.
How about the supervision of disaster aids?
I read the draft of bill of disaster recovery and I am disappointed for the lack of government’s role in supervising the non-government aids (article 16 verse 1).
I also disappointed for the non-existent punishment for corrupting the aids. The funny thing, instead of focusing the recovery aspect, the bill prefer to punish the cause of disaster which, I believe have already been ruled in Penal Code (KUHP) [haven’t checked it yet]
In regard to disaster recovery, the work done by Mr. Kuntoro of BRR in Aceh seems to be the most excellent so far. The task force assigned to Yogya may be able learn a lot from his team.
Hopefully the development in Indonesia will focus more on the people itself. Not on some bubbly economic figures. Thanks for the insight.
i m studying architecture. last week i went to klaten for checking broken houses. we works with Bappeda. pliss dun make another new debt !!
u r my idol mister… hehehe (miftah)
kebanyakan,masalah dalam pembangunan adalah birokrasi yang terlalu ribet dan bertele-tele..
tanya kenapa?
wah, pak Menhan ngeblog! selamat blogging deh, Pak..
Pak, Indonesia masih mempunyai utang Rp 1.200 trilyun! (Correct me if i’m wrong). Jika jumlah penduduk Indonesia 200 juta jiwa, maka setiap kepala warga Indonesia dihargai utang sebanyak 6 milyar rupiah. Saran saya, bagaimana jika negara2 debitur diberikan saja hak berinvestasi terutama pada daerah2 ekonomi tertinggal atau yg tidak produktif.
Let us give them our land and resources to reduce our debt to them. Ada puluhan ribu daerah tertinggal dan SDA yg masih belum terjamah. Utang 6 milyar rupiah per kepala orang Indonesia juga belum tentu lunas dalam 100 tahun. Apa mau kita kehilangan generasi yang ideal? Apa generasi berikutnya masih harus terlilit utang negara? Bayar kartu kredit aja udah pusing pak, apalagi mikirin negara. Just my 2 cents
Pak Juwono emang OK!!
We don’t need more loans. We need more investment, instead.
Indonesia’s defense minister is blogging
I was shocked to find out through Shel Israel that Indonesia’s Minister of Defense, Juwono Sudarsono, is blogging*. His latest post discusses the challenge of governance:For the past eighteen months, the most talked about issue in Indonesian policy c…
H.E. Mr.Sudarsono,
Your articles, posted on your blog, are very informative, especially for outsiders who live in other part of the world who like to know about what is going on in Indonesia .
More than 40 years, since I had the opportunity (as reporter) to visit several remote areas in Indonesia, but it still vivid in my memory the friendly attitude of the common people to their neigbors and visitors. I am sure in 4 decades, lot of change had occured for the better or maybe worse.
I sincerely hope that your government under the leadership of .B.Yudhoyono will bring improvement to the life of the common people- further above the poverty line. We all aware, that severe poverty in any society, any where is a “furtile ground” to plant & grow extreme philosophy, either religious or secular one; radical thinking that will not contribute to the healthy growth of the society.
Some small group of your “audience” might be sceptical reading your articles, because you are the Defense Minister,but the majority will appreciate it.
Your prominent reputation as a scholar in political & social science, weigh more than your position in the Administration of Mr.Yudhoyono.
Dear Bp Juwono,
A bit of humility or humbleness keep us in check with reality and get us more down to earth… and enjoy the ride.
However dream and ambition keep our wing so we can fly and move faster.
There is to be a balance and harmonius way to achieve both of those. And for those; who received an honour to prepare and design whether policy or other things that may involve many people as in country such as Indonesia that heavily populated; have to remembered this. Find those balance and harmony. To fast as the economy with the wing without considering that most of population have the condition of make them fragile. If there is only momentary mistake in decision making whether from Jakarta or from those in region that hit by disaster, a least hundreds of people will affected.
My suggestion is that dont get the wing to move faster but get bigger engine which is our willingness to work harder and hand in hand to resolve problem more effectively. In other word work hard and cooperate as team. Many thing can achieve by these two. Hopefully in the future we are able just among Indonesian for simplyfication( this is already too optimistic) able to coordinate better. filling each other gap and loses, not waiting whistle to move for the bigger cause.
Our nation are well known for its diversity but dont make it as an option for disarray.
Thank for attention.
“More Humility in Development Planning”must be a good goverment priority ,but in fact every development in this nation not being moved like that,my experience as a landscape architect always seen the fact that the goverment not give a “horticulture development” be a priority program,this nation blessing with the rich plasmanutfah but we not yet exploited that treasure.In many country like thailand i see the thai goverment used humility aspect to their goverment will.
Why we don’t?
rgds,anak negeri