Social Affairs Minister Calls out War Against Poverty

MAKASSAR (November 27, 2019) – The Social Affairs Minister Juliari P. Batubara ensured that the source of radicalism and terrorism was poverty. Thus, the Minister called every stakeholder to fight against poverty.

“Every day we heard that the police arrest the terrorist. Soon the prison has been full. Actually, to handle the terrorism, we have to do it from the source. The radicalism and terrorism problem are come from poverty. So, for the governors, regents from all around the country, we have to fight against the poverty,” said the Minister in the Family Hope Program Appreciation Day of 2019 in Makassar, Wednesday (27/11/2019).

According to the Alumnus of Riverside City College and Chapman University, the same perspective which said that poverty was the biggest problem in this country. It was important to pointed out. The Ministry of Social Affairs itself had enthusiastically fought the poverty with two national programs, which was the Family Hope Program (PKH) and Non-Cash Food Assistance (BNPT).

“I want the poverty reduction to be successful by the decrease number of the pre-welfare people. Thus, the budget for poverty reduction is getting smaller. If the number of pre-welfare person does not get decrease, then I fail,” said the Minister.

According to the father of two children, the successful in accelerating the poverty reduction was marked by the increase number of the graduated Family Beneficiaries. The pre-welfare people who got promoted to become the welfare, moreover to avoid from get exposed by the radical ideology, it also to improve the human resource quality.

“It is along with the President Joko Widodo’s vision which launched the Indonesia Forward and Superior Human Resource towards golden Indonesia in 2024. Right on 100 years of Indonesia, the public itself will get a significant increase of income. And it will make Indonesia stand at the line of high-income country,” said the Minister.

To realize Indonesia Forward, the Minister said, we had to have a dream and ambition. “All of the nation’s children has to have a dream on how to be advanced. How to have a love or dream in 1,5 or 10 years to come. Bung Karno said that we have to get a dream as high as the sky. If we fall, we are still among the stars,” he said.

The head of IMI in period of 2003-2007 persuaded all stakeholder to realize the president’s hope. “Under the leadership of the President Joko Widodo and the Vice President KH. Ma’ruf Amin, it certainly needs our support to successfully realize the ambition,” he said.

The Social Affairs Minister re-stated on the internal event of the MoSA, that the success of all MoSA’s programs was not on him, but on all stakeholder’s cooperation. “The successful needs support from all of the MoSA’s officer,” he said

There are Director General of Social Protection and Security Harry Hikmat, Senior Advisor of the Minister Erwin Tobing, the Secretary of Director General of Social Protection and Security Justina Dwi Noviantari, and Director of Social Protection for Family Nur Pujianto, also the structural and functional officials attended in this event.

Acting Head of Public Relation Bureau
The Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs
Sony W Manalu