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CSOs gather, share development ideas
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, accompanied by Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi (right) and state-owned airport operator AP II president director Muhammad Awaluddin (second left), inspects facilities at the revamped Silangit International Airport in Siborong-Borong, Tapanuli Utara regency, North Sumatra on Nov. 24. (Antara/Puspa Perwitasari)
T
he numerous infrastructure projects carried out by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration in the past several years have not only improved connectivity between regions but also helped boost peoples’ pride, particularly those living in border areas, a senior government official has said.
“The opening of access to several isolated villages and border areas is basically also the development of human civilization,” said Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko during the opening of People’s Summit in Sanur, Bali, on Monday.
He added that the infrastructure development in border areas had also helped boost the pride of Indonesian people living in those areas. “The people [living in border areas] will become proud of being [Indonesian] citizens,” he said.
Moeldoko delivered his keynote speech during the People’s Summit on Alternative Development: Voices of Justice and Equality from the Past to the Future. The event was organized by various civil society organizations.
Dian Kartikasari, a board member of the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (Infid), said the summit would be a forum for NGOs to share ideas and experiences about good development practices.
She said the growing protectionism of advanced countries today had increased skepticism about the mantra of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank that development should consist of liberalization and privatization.
Ah Maftuchan from Perkumpulan Prakarsa added that development should not damage the environment and not marginalize people.
Kemitraan executive director Monica Tanuhandanu, meanwhile, said the summit would be a forum to question the IMF and World Bank about whether they aimed to strengthen or weaken civil society. (waw)
