THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDONESIA IN THE LAST TEN YEARS
Ridela Sheila
(Mahasiswa S1 IESP FE UNPAD)
As we all can see, the condition of Indonesian economy has not given the significant changes to make a better living for its citizen, especially for the poor. Our country even stuck with the same problem that is a multidimensional crisis. The crisis began in 1998 (about twelve years ago) and continued until now without any great solution. Although some people argue that in the last ten years our country can make us proud with the increasing percent in every year of its economic growth, it doesn’t change the reality of how bad Indonesian development is today. Many aspects have to be solved to reach the Indonesian development goals. Those aspects include the rate of unemployment, poverty, health and environment issues, gender, education, the unfair development among islands, and so on.
Each aspect, then, always have a correlation with others, so the government has to think seriously to find the best solution about the aspects above. The right solution finally can make a better development and induce the economic growth of Indonesia. That’s the reason why those aspects can play an important role to our country.
In this essay, I will examine one of those aspects which shows the unfairness in developing between one island to another. The development has been directed more to the center, that is to the location of capital city where most of the governmental issues, jobs, and policies take place. Although the word “autonomy” has been conducted to allow every region in Indonesia to develop themselves. But, in reality, many regions in many islands still cannot develop well. Lets take a look at the following data which shows a comparation of roads’ lengths between every province in 2001.
NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL ROADS’ LENGTHS
| Province | National Roads | Provoncial Roads | Total Roads’ Lengths | Toll Ways |
| km | % | Km | % | km | % |
| Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam | 1144.02 | 4.35 | 1,941.66 | 4.99 | 3,086.70 | 4.74 | 34.4 |
| Nort Sumatra | 1,305.96 | 4,97 | 2,936.47 | 7.55 | 4,242.43 | 6.51 | |
| West Sumatra | 871.96 | 3.32 | 1,389.40 | 3.57 | 2,261.36 | 3.47 | |
| Riau | 838.56 | 3.19 | 1,709.52 | 4.39 | 2,548.08 | 3.91 | |
| Jambi | 853.27 | 3.25 | 1,061.96 | 2.73 | 1,915.23 | 2.94 | |
| South Sumatra | 1008.95 | 3.83 | 839.11 | 2.16 | 1,848.08 | 2.83 | |
| Bengkulu | 750.43 | 2.86 | 2,623.86 | 6,74 | 3,374.29 | 5.18 | |
| Lampung | 851.26 | 3.24 | 2,151.36 | 5.53 | 3,002.62 | 4.61 | |
| DKI Jakarta | 153.50 | 0.58 | 1,093.50 | 2.81 | 1,247.00 | 1.91 | 93.83 |
| West Java | 1,062.22 | 4.04 | 2,367.04 | 6.08 | 3,429.26 | 5.26 | 292.14 |
| Central Java | 1,215.47 | 4.63 | 2,564.34 | 6.59 | 3,779.81 | 2.80 | 24.55 |
| DI Yogyakarta | 158,34 | 0.60 | 632.95 | 1.63 | 791.29 | 1.21 | |
| East Java | 1,783.49 | 6.79 | 1,840.62 | 4.73 | 3,624.11 | 5.56 | 63.30 |
| Bali | 405.93 | 1.55 | 668.68 | 1.72 | 1,074.61 | 1.65 | |
| West Nusa Tenggara | 541.22 | 2.06 | 1,154.57 | 2.97 | 1,695.79 | 2.60 | |
| East Nusa Tenggara | 1,121.85 | 4.27 | 2,901.05 | 7.46 | 4,022.90 | 6.17 | |
| West Kalimantan | 1,006.62 | 3.83 | 1,682.23 | 4.32 | 2,688.85 | 4.12 | |
| Central Kalimantan | 1,707.53 | 6.50 | 349.51 | 0.90 | 2,057.04 | 3.16 | |
| South Kalimantan | 864.07 | 3.29 | 778.62 | 2.00 | 1,642.69 | 2.52 | |
| East Kalimantan | 1,226.21 | 4.67 | 746.19 | 1.92 | 1,972.40 | 3.03 | |
| North Sulawesi | 1,360.39 | 5.18 | 566.09 | 1.45 | 1,926.48 | 2.96 | |
| Central Sulawesi | 1,592.99 | 6.06 | 1,535.59 | 3.95 | 3,128.58 | 4.80 | |
| South Sulawesi | 1,669.57 | 6.36 | 1,386.09 | 3.56 | 3,055.66 | 4.69 | 6.95 |
| South East Sulawesi | 612.60 | 2.33 | 1,143.68 | 2.94 | 1,756.28 | 2,69 | |
| Mollucas | 464.68 | 1.77 | 1,656.36 | 4.26 | 2,121.04 | 3.25 | |
| Papua | 1,701.96 | 6.48 | 1,192.09 | 3.06 | 2,894.05 | 4.44 | |
| Source : Depkimpraswill |
From the data above we can see that provinces which are located in the east side of Indonesia have more roads’ lengths compare to the west side provinces. It may become like that because the east side provinces have wider area than the west side. But take a look at the toll ways, it only exist in some provinces (mostly Java). Why? Because the other province maybe doesn’t need it. But instead of finding an answer, it leads to another question: why another province doesn’t need the toll ways? Because the common roads are enough for people there to do their job. Unlike most people who live in Java and Sumatra, the people in other island still work as a farmer, fisher, and do another traditional job that absolutely doesn’t have to always be in a hurry to go to work, or doesn’t have to be stress because of traffic jam. In short, the toll ways give Javanese and Sumatran people an easier and more efficient access to do their job everyday. So, it is clear now that the job differences between Java and Sumatra Island compare to others reflect the different technic of development. The west side island can develop very well while the east side can’t. This is what I called unfair development among island. Because if both side have the same amount of toll ways, it means the development of the two is more or less the same.
Then, money is always be a classic thread for Indonesia to build and develop this country. I think, the basic thing which is wrong is the allocation system of that money. When the government tried to allocate money, they only care about the province which gives them many advantages and forget the others. Because of that, for many areas, there always be a lack of fund to do development. Finally, this unfairness leads to reduce Indonesian economic growth.
So, what should the government do to solve the development problem? For me (and maybe for the government), it is not an easy thing to solve and it takes a long time. But, because every problem comes with its solution, there must be some ways to fix it. One of the solution is giving a careness to many provinces outside Java and Sumatra island, especially those which are located in the east side of Indonesia. The government has to understand what the people need, fulfill it by allocating enough money to develop that area, and the government should take a look at its resources for example the scenery, the mountain, or the beach, whether it is potential to be a tourist destination or not. If the answer is “ yes ”, so government has to build and develop that area by providing a quick and easy access and any another facilities. The government’s careness gives hope to the people who live there. They can seek for a better-paid job which give them better standard of living. If the people has got enough income, they can save the rest of it to be used in an unexpected time. They do not have to worry about the lack of money, because everytime they need it, they can take it from their saving. This safety feeling induces people to work harder and finally they can develop their area by themselves. QMaybe this is the word “ autonomy ” should be. Now, at least I can imagine the good effect of this simple solution. And it can be much more better if the careness is given not only to a few area, but to many areas in Indonesia.
Finally, the unfair development in Indonesia can be solved by a little thing called careness. Of course in practice it can’t be as simple as what I’ve been mentioned above, it takes a very long time to develop those areas. There are so many problems that will be faced too, but it doesn’t mean the solution cannot be implemented. The growth of Indonesian economy maybe increasing its number in the last ten years, but because the reality doesn’t say the same thing, government should learn more to improve the social welfare of Indonesian people and begin to pay attention to the small thing that have big affect in changing this condition. If the government wants to change to support their people and vice versa, I believe the Indonesian development can reach its better performance in the next ten years.
