akarta gubernatorial candidate Anies Baswedan has criticized the record of governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama during a debate held by private television station Kompas TV on Thursday evening, saying that Ahok had focused only on physical development, not human development.
Anies supported his statement by citing continuing inequality in the city as well as the huge social disparity between residents.
Anies and his running mate, Sandiaga Uno also highlighted the poverty level in the city.
“In Jakarta, there are 350,000 residents whose incomes are below Rp 487,000 (US$36) per month. If we set the poverty standard to minimum of Rp 1 million in income per month, there are 3.5 million poor people in the city,” Anies said, adding that there are still a lot of students who could not finish high school due to poverty.
Anies said that he would focus on human development if elected. Together with Sandiaga, he said he would also create more job vacancies in Jakarta.
The third gubernatorial candidate, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, was invited but did not attend the debate.
Ahok responded to Anies’ statement by citing a report that showed an increase of the human development index (IPM) in the city.
“Last year, the IPM reached 78.99. This means that we only need to add 1.01 points to be acknowledged as a developed city. This means that we have focused on human development,” Ahok said.
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