[علم الاقتصاد] بودي آري سيتيادي | حول كيفية توجيه الأوبئة لمستقبلنا في القرية

The COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia has been running for more than a year. We have learned many things. One of them is how the village shows its empowerment in facing the pandemic. Maybe it's time to consider a step back to the village. Maybe development should be built through the village. Maybe we have gone too far from the village. Deputy Minister of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Indonesian Transmigration (PDTT) Budi Arie Setiadi shared his views on this.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has mapped the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nation's economy. As a result, rural economies are relatively safer than urban ones. Budi Arie opened the chat with this interesting data. He said the factor that supports the village economy is Indonesia's basic economic sector, namely agriculture.

"Now the agricultural sector, according to BPS data, is not contracting. It's not negative. What makes the agricultural sector drop a little is the price. But the needs are not lost," said Budi Arie, met by VOI at his office, Monday, March 29.

According to these data, the agricultural sector is the basic pillar of the village economy. Of the 74,960 villages throughout Indonesia, 86 percent are based on the economy in the agricultural sector. Apart from agriculture, fisheries and livestock are also strong pillars of the village economy. These things are what make villages more empowered in the midst of a pandemic economic storm.

"For example, a fishing village in Bekasi that I visited from September to October. He (a fisherman) said, 'Our income has decreased, sir. We usually sell it to restaurants in Jakarta for Rp.50 thousand to Rp20 thousand.' Yes, it's because Jakarta restaurants are closed. But now it's starting to normal again. Prices have started to return to their previous levels. So they have started to experience a faster recovery. "

Budi Arie Setiadi

The PDTT Ministry itself, said Budi Arie, is aware of this fact. The Ministry of PDTT has designed a number of programs and policies to protect villages. In the health aspect, which according to Budi Arie is the top priority, the Ministry of PDTT has formed a Task Force for Handling COVID-19 at the village level. The task force consists of all village officials, from village heads, community leaders, youth leaders, to religious leaders.

Apart from the health side, the Ministry of Education and Culture (PDTT) also strives to maintain social aspects, which are directly related to the economy. Through a large national program called Social Safety Net, the Ministry of PDTT has contributed in a number of ways, including creating a significant direct cash transfer scheme for village funds. This program was formed to increase the purchasing power of rural communities so that the economy will keep moving.

Another effort to protect the village is during the homecoming moment. The government has indeed issued a ban on going home from 6-17 May. However, we can't close our eyes to the potential for conceding. We estimate the flow of homecoming this year by looking at 2019 data, the period before the pandemic. That year the number of travelers reached 20 million. And that's only on the island of Java. If 22,425 divided the number of villages in Java, it means that one village will receive a thousand people.

This year's conditions are certainly different from 2019 - when the situation was normal - or 2020, when the pandemic had just started and homecoming was completely prohibited. This year, Budi Arie sees the most important thing to do is to prepare villages by tightening health protocols. "Therefore, there needs to be readiness."

"If previously there was 14 days of isolation, maybe now we should look for a more appropriate formula for the homecoming procession in 2021. Because we know this homecoming is a cultural event. Besides celebrating the Eid al-Fitr, this is also a means of gathering."

Yes, that's all. Because even talking about vaccinations, the village has not touched vaccines at all. The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) targets vaccinations to be completed by early next year. In the short-term target, the Ministry of Health is targeting vaccinations for 45 million residents by June.

So, priority must remain on prevention from health risks. According to Budi Arie, however, villages are more vulnerable in terms of health. Speaking of health facilities, the village is clearly left behind. Of the tens of thousands of villages, only five thousand have Puskesmas.

The fact about the availability of Puskesmas in the village is ironic. This is also a big question about social justice for all Indonesian people, including those in the village. Budi Arie highlighted the health aspect along with the education aspect as two sectors that must be reformed.

Reform in what way? In management. Budi Arie said that the two aspects should return control to the center. Remove these two aspects from the regional autonomy mechanism. According to him, regional autonomy in the health and education sectors is the source of widening the gap.

Budi Arie told a story of how teachers in many areas in Eastern Indonesia have to teach five subjects. With such proportions and burdens, can you imagine how this would have an impact on the quality of their students? The distribution of teaching resources is a problem. Others, in the context of health, the problem of distribution of human resources is also a problem.

"From here we can see two, qualified teachers and qualified doctors, the number of which is not evenly distributed across regions in Indonesia. All the best doctors, the best teachers, are in Java. human."

"The Ministry of Health does not have direct vertical control because there is an Otda mechanism. Including moving doctors, moving teachers. After all, a regency that has good doctors and teachers wants to let go of good doctors and teachers. What does that mean? Yes, the district is going to be very advanced. Only other districts will be left behind very much. So in the long run, in the long term, the gap will occur. It will be even wider. "

"For example, I visited the Regent and Deputy Regent of Wakatobi. He said, 'we have a hospital, sir, please ask the MOH, we don't have a doctor.' Crazy or not ?!

Budi Arie Setiadi

The name advanced Indonesia cannot be left behind. So what is the key to advancing? There seems to be only one back and forth, human resources. Or more straightforward language, the person. So, the problem is where did the person get it from? Good education. Good health.

Budi Arie Setiadi

Indonesia is a village. It's a fact. According to BPS data, regionally, villages cover 91 percent of Indonesia's territory. Economically, the utilization of this potential is far from optimal. BPS data also states that the village economy has contributed only 14 percent of the total national GDP. Imagine what if the economic potential of the village was boosted?

The government is not silent. The key program called the Village Fund has entered its seventh year. Rp. 323 trillion has been disbursed to all villages in Indonesia, amounting to 74,960. However, there are still more than 20 thousand villages in Indonesia whose status is Disadvantaged and Very Disadvantaged. There are many variables determining that status, to be sure.

But, why is social justice not yet comprehensive, even though the opportunity to develop itself for the village has been given through the Village Fund? We know, in principle, the Village Fund is an effort to distribute empowerment. Villages are given the opportunity to develop themselves. Budi Arie answered that question by highlighting human resources again.

"I go back and forth from the formula, why is it progressing, why is it lagging behind, why is it stumbling. Three formulas for the village have the potential to advance. There are still many young people, innovative creative human resources. Citizen participation."

"That's why when I first went to the village, I asked the village head, how many young people were there? Because as long as the village still has young people, the village has hope to progress."

Budi Arie Setiadi

Budi Arie made a discourse to encourage the birth of entrepreneurs in the village. In addition, seeing agriculture as one of the basic bases of the nation's economy, of course, will increase the number of agricultural workers in the village. And the hopes are in the youth.

The facts above also create a big job for the Ministry of Villages for PDTT. The city's sheen is certainly hard to argue with. The city is still the main goal for someone to improve their destiny. The village loses its potentials that are lured to the city. How will the Ministry of Villages for PDTT respond to this situation?

Budi Arie said, the closest thing to catching up with the village luster from the city is equalizing internet access and electricity. Where is the progress? To date, there are around 2,400 villages whose electricity connections are not available 24 hours.

In fact, there are still 433 villages without electricity at all. The average is in Papua. For the internet, currently there are 12,500 villages that do not have internet access. The government is targeting all villages to be connected to the internet by the end of 2022.

Of the many and underdeveloped, Budi Arie still invites the youth to revisit the important essence of building a village.

"Indonesia's future is in the village. Why is Indonesia's future in the village? Because if this village is built, then Indonesia will advance. So the village is developed, Indonesia is advanced. So building a village is the same as developing Indonesia.

Budi Arie Setiadi

With the presentation of various data about the potential of the village above, including how strong the village was to survive the worst disaster like this pandemic, what Arie said seemed reasonable.