IO, Jakarta – Vice President Jusuf Kalla stated that economic gap di Indonesia is very much real and requires balancing. He further stated that other than being measurable through the Gini rate, it is even directly observable in Jakarta as the country’s capital city. “We see for ourselves that the most luxurious housings are located in Jakarta, and so are the poorest slums,” Kalla stated in the final report of the National Team for the Acceleration of the Eradication of Poverty (Tim Nasional Percepatan Penanggulangan Kemiskinan – “TNP2K”) at the Vice President’s Palace, Jakarta, on Wednesday (09/10/2019). “This means that there is a big gap among our citizens. We must be able to cover this gap by helping those in the lower ranks to get better income and spend less.”
Kalla then stated that Government subsidies towards Health Social Insurance Administration Organization (Badan Penyelenggaran Jaminan Sosial – “BPJS”) is one way the Government helps to reduce the expenses of poor citizens. On the other side of the equation, the Government also continues to work to get investments that would allow for the creation of more job opportunities for citizens, specifically jobs that can be paid at least according to Regional Minimum Wage Rates (Upah Minimum Regional – “UMR”).
Kalla believes that if this double-pronged effort continues, the Government will be able to reduce social and economic gap in Indonesia. “So we are still working on a point where we can stabilize expenses, and then we will also increase their income level and productivity,” he said. (dsy)