The Number Of Poor People In Indonesia Drops But In Jakarta It Increases, PSI: Here's The Result If DKI's Regional Budget Is For Unclear Activities Like Formula E And Infiltration Wells

Residents wash on the banks of the Ciliwung River, Kampung Melayu, Jakarta, September 2019. (Antara)

JAKARTA - Spokesman for the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) Sigid Widodo assesses that there is an imbalance between the curve of the poor population in Indonesia and that experienced in DKI Jakarta Province.

"While the number of poor people in Indonesia has decreased significantly, in Jakarta poverty has actually increased," commented Sigit on his Twitter account, @sigitwid, Friday 15 July.

Sidit alluded to the latest data from the DKI Jakarta Central Statistics Agency (BPS) released on its official website, it was written that the percentage of poor people in Indonesia fell by 1.38 million people.

The number of poor people in the country will be 26.16 million in March 2022, a decline of 0.60 percent in March 2021.

In the same data, the number of poor people in DKI Jakarta increased by 3,750 people. That means that the poor population in Jakarta is 502.04 thousand people or 4.69 percent of the total population. Sigid admitted that he was surprised by the situation that befell DKI Jakarta. Because it is realized, DKI Jakarta is one of the regions that has the highest Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD) in Indonesia.

"In fact, @DKIJakarta has the highest APBD in Indonesia," added Sigit.

The range of DKI Jakarta's APBD from 2018 to 2022 is around Rp. 77-89 trillion. In 2018, the DKI Regional Budget was Rp. 70.11 trillion, while in 2019 it was Rp. 89.08 trillion with the revised APBD in 2019 at Rp. 86.89 trillion.

Densely populated settlement on the banks of the Ciliwung River, Kampung Melayu, Jakarta, Friday 16 July 2021. (Antara/Aditya PP)

Furthermore, in 2020 the DKI Regional Budget is Rp. 87.95 trillion with a change of Rp. 63.30 trillion. Followed by the 2021 DKI Regional Budget of Rp. 84.19 trillion with the revised APBD of Rp. 79.89 trillion. The latest 2022 DKI APBD is set at IDR 82.47 trillion.

According to Sigit, the use of the DKI APBD is not properly functioned so that the gap between rich and poor in the capital city is still high.

"This is the result if the APBD is wasted on unclear activities such as Formula E and infiltration wells," he said.