Ganjar-Mahfud Determined To Welfare The People From Sabang To Merauke

Presidential candidate number 3, Ganjar Pranowo, held his first day of campaign in Merauke, Papua, Tuesday (28/11/2023). BETWEEN/TPN Ganjar-Mahfud

JAKARTA - Candidate pairs for president and vice president number 3 Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD are determined to realize equitable economic development and the welfare of the Indonesian people from Sabang to Merauke.

This was conveyed by Ganjar when he started his first campaign in the Semangga District, Waninggap Nanggo, Semangga District, Merauke Regency, Papua, Tuesday, November 28.

Meanwhile, Mahfud held his first campaign at Pasi Jaboi, Sukajaya, Sabang City, Aceh.

The location of Ganjar and Mahfud's inaugural campaign in the easternmost and western parts of Indonesia is a symbol of Indonesian unity, according to the 3rd principle of Pancasila.

"Prof. Mahfud at the western tip of Aceh and I at the eastern tip of Indonesia. From this region, we started the struggle to prosper all the people in the village and city, from Sabang to Merauke within the framework of the Indonesian Union," said Ganjar in a press release of the Ganjar-Mahfud National Winning Team (TPN) reported by ANTARA.

In particular, Merauke and Papua were chosen as the location for the start of Ganjar's inaugural campaign in the 2024 presidential election considering that this area is located in the easternmost part of Indonesia and the earliest welcomes the morning ceremony, the earliest starting work. This is also a symbol of the forefront in welcoming hope.

The location of Ganjar's campaign in the village further emphasized Ganjar's commitment to village will take precedence in development programs.

"We will move quickly for Indonesia Better, starting with building from the village. If Indonesia wants to be better, the villages must be better first," said Ganjar.

Ganjar revealed that the theme of the 2024 presidential election campaign was "From Sabang to Merauke". This theme contains the determination to equalize economic development, improve the quality of human resources, health, and education throughout Indonesia.

Ganjar said health and education programs are the most crucial.

Therefore, the Ganjar-Mahfud pair are determined to create a village, one health facility and one health worker, especially in the 3T area (be left behind, frontier, and outermost) so that the Indonesian people stay healthy, productive, and prosperous.

According to Ganjar, people long for health services that are close, fast, cheap, and good. So ideally in each village there is one health facility and at least one professional health worker.

"This is so that the village community is healthy, can work productively, and be more prosperous. This program will prioritize underdeveloped, frontier and outermost villages such as in Merauke," he said.

As an illustration in Merauke, there are only around 230 thousand people with 25 health centers. Of these, there are eight health centers that have not been accredited.

In this area, one puskesmas serves up to 9,000 residents, even though ideally one puskesmas serves a maximum of 1,000 people.

In the campaign, Ganjar emphasized that the 2024 presidential election is a big gamble for our nation. Indonesia faces the challenge of a demographic bonus that can bring this country to become a developed country.

It is said that Merauke, which is located at the eastern tip of Indonesia and Sabang in the western hemisphere of Indonesia, will witness its struggle with Mahfud to realize the development and welfare of the Indonesian people.

On a separate occasion, Mahfud revealed that the message behind Sabang and Merauke's choice as the first location for the 2024 presidential election campaign could clearly be understood that the emotional ties as a nation originated from the village, which was reflected in the lyrics of the song "From Sabang to Merauke, lined up with islands," continued connecting to one. That's Indonesia"

"This is our commitment to equalize economic development. This is our commitment so that there will be no more poor people in Indonesia. This is also a commitment to realize legal certainty and protection for all elements of the nation spread from Sabang to Merauke," said Mahfud.

He said the choice of Sabang and Merauke was closely related to Ganjar-Mahfud's commitment to always be loyal to Pancasila and the noble values of the nation, including respecting customs and local wisdom in all corners of the country.

In the campaign in Sabang, Mahfud reiterated the determination of the Ganjar-Mahfud pair to improve the welfare of Koran teachers and other religious educators, as well as to realize equitable distribution of the quality of national education.

The pair of presidential and vice presidential candidates number 3 has a superior program, namely the salary of Koran teachers. As a country with the largest Muslim population in the world (achieved 240 million people), Indonesia has around one million Koran teachers and in Banda Aceh alone there are around 1,500 Koran teachers.

However, the Koran teachers have not received proper appreciation. Even though Koran teachers and religious educators have a big role in shaping children's character and morals.

According to a survey by the Ministry of Religion, about 65 percent of the income Koran teachers are far below the regional minimum wage.

"Mas Ganjar has taken the initiative in Central Java, providing a grant of more than Rp. 1 trillion for incentives for Koran teachers and other religious educators. This policy will be expanded nationally. Later every Koran teacher and religious educator will receive an incentive of Rp. 1 million per month. In addition, they will also receive BPJS Health facilities," said Mahfud.