The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono used his 2007 State of the Union speech to focus on lifting people and regions out of poverty.
Yudhoyono said his government would spend more on education, health, housing and infrastructure in the coming year in a bid to improve people's livelihoods.
He said that in 2007, the government would embark on a massive poverty eradication program that would cover more than 2,800 districts in the country.
According to the President, each district will receive Rp 1.5 billion (US$164,835) for the program, up from Rp 750 million in previous years.
In the education sector, the government plans to increase the education supporting fund from Rp 10.2 trillion in 2006 to Rp 11.6 trillion.
To improve the welfare of teachers, the government has projected an increase in teacher's allowances from Rp 100,000 last year to Rp 200,000 this year.
In the health sector, Yudhoyono said that the number of health insurance recipients would reach 51 million in 2007 while the total budget for health services would reach Rp 17.2 trillion. The amount is a more than 250 percent increase on the 2004 figure.
Yudhoyono said that the government had improved in providing housing for the poor. From 70,957 units in 2004, the government managed to build 90,144 units in 2006.
Yudhoyono also said that between 2005 and 2006, his government managed to provide clean water for 3.3 million people in both urban and rural areas. This year the government will expand the service to reach 1.5 million people in rural regions and 1.4 million people in urban areas.
Government infrastructure projects, which included roads, ports, sanitation projects and irrigation in rural regions, reached more than 14,000 disadvantaged villages in 2006. The program will include 2,000 villages in 2007.
Yudhoyono said that his government would build more bridges, roads, ports and power plants in 2007. The government is aiming for a total 10,000 megawatts of additional power capacity by 2009.
Yudhoyono said that the new infrastructure would be an important part of encouraging investment in the country.
The speech also brought good news for civil servants and members of the military. Yudhoyono said that the lowest ranking officials would get 28.5 percent increases on their basic salaries, from Rp 1 million in 2006 to Rp 1.28 million for 2007.
Shunning a live telecast, Yudhoyono opted to have his speech taped by state-run television station TVRI.
He also broke two other traditions. He used a teleprompter, the first time a president has used such a machine, which meant the taping was interrupted by frequent breaks, allowing him to make minor adjustments to his speech.
He also made the speech at the start of the year, rather than at the end.
""I want to start a new tradition that a presidential speech can be delivered at the beginning of the year, when we have the whole picture of what we have achieved in the past year,"" he said.
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