Law makes pledges to poor, but fulfilment unclear

Jakarta, NU Online
The House of Representatives passed a law on Thursday ordering the government to provide food, shelter and clothes to the nation’s 30 million poor people, but the legislation does not mention how the obligations are to be implemented.

The Law on the Poor recognizes the rights of the needy, and says that the government is responsible for recording data about the poor.

It states that the poor have the right to health care, social services, a healthy environment, legal aid and social security. Meanwhile, the government is responsible for providing jobs and job training for the poor.

A proposal to allocate a certain proportion of the state budget to poverty eradication was dropped for fiscal reasons.

Previously, the House discussed allocating 3 percent to 5 percent of the budget for poverty eradication programs.

Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al Jufri said a regulation on the implementation of the law would be issued within a year.

While the central government will increase the budget allocation for the poor, the effort will also be supported by other sources of finance, including regional governments, corporations and grants from local and overseas institutions.

“What is clear is that we will have the Social Affairs Ministry lead the program, as today poverty eradication programs are scattered across 19 ministries,” Salim was quoted by the Jakarta Globe as saying.

He said the ministry would set criteria to define who is considered poor, identify them by name and address so government programs can reach the right people.

If anyone entitled to support under the program is overlooked by the ministry, they can register directly.

Both the government and the House claimed the new law was different from past efforts to tackle poverty.

Instead of only distributing cash to the poor, they said, the government is seeking to empower the poor and help them become skilled workers.

“Our target is to abolish poverty by 2025,” Salim said.

Fajri Nursyamsi, a researcher from the Center for Indonesian Law and Policy Studies (PSHK), expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the law. He also said the actions spelled out in the law should have done by the government a long time ago.

“They have claimed that the law is an implementation of Article 34 of the Constitution,” he told the Jakarta Globe. That article says the government is responsible for caring for neglected children and the poor.

“But if you read the law thoroughly, there’s nothing special about it,” he said.

“It’s like a to-do list for the Social Affairs Ministry. These are things they should have done a long time ago.”

He said the PSHK and several other organizations, including charity Dompet Dhuafa, had expected more from the law but were let down.

Abdul Kadir Karding, chairman of House Commission VIII, which oversees social affairs, said he was optimistic the government would put the required details in the later regulation.

“Now the 19 institutions are not going to work separately, and the Ministry of Social Affairs will be the leading actor,” he said.

Poverty eradication, Abdul added, would be faster and more effective if the government used an empowerment approach. (dar)