SBY: Warga Miskin Turun 4,5 Juta Orang
Indonesian Govt Successfully Reduces Poverty Rate by 4.5 Million
Reporter : Rizki Saleh
Editor : Cahyani Harzi
Translator : Dhelia Gani
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Jakarta (B2B) - Pemerintah dalam lima tahun terakhir, pemerintah berhasil menurunkan jumlah penduduk miskin sekitar 4,5 juta orang. Angka kemiskinan juga terus turun sejak 2004.
"Pada 2009, persentase penduduk miskin masih mencapai 14 persen, atau sekitar 32 juta penduduk berada di bawah garis kemiskinan. Bulan Maret 2014, tingkat kemiskinan turun menjadi 11 persen, atau sekitar 28 juta penduduk,” kata Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) saat menyampaikan Pidato Kenegaraan memperingati HUT Kemerdekaan RI ke-69 di depan sidang bersama DPR/DPD di Jakarta, Jumat (15/8).
SBY mengatakan, walau terus turun, pemerintah tidak puas dengan angka itu dan terus berupaya mencapai angka nol kemiskinan absolut di Indonesia.
Presiden juga menyatakan, efektivitas pembangunan tidak semata diukur dari pengentasan kemiskinan, tetapi juga pertumbuhan kelas menengah.
SBY meyakini, pada abad ke-21 ini kemajuan Indonesia bukan diukur dari jumlah konglomerat, melainkan dari jumlah kelas menengah yang terus membesar.
Ketika jumlah kelas menengah membesar, berarti kemiskinan otomatis menurun. Itu karena yang masuk menjadi kelas menengah adalah dari golongan miskin yang berhasil mengubah nasibnya.
"Buruh tani yang menjadi pemilik lahan, karyawan yang menjadi manajer, si miskin yang menjadi pengusaha, dosen atau pejabat," katanya.
Jakarta (B2B) - The Indonesian government has been successful in reducing the poverty rate by some 4.5 million people over the last five years, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono noted in his State of The Nation Address.
"In 2009, the poverty rate reached 14 percent of the total population or 32 million people were under the poverty line. In March 2014, the poverty rate declined to 11 percent or some 28 million people," the head of state remarked before the joint session of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representative Council (DPD) here on Friday.
Despite the decline in poverty rate, the government is not satisfied and is striving to achieve zero poverty, he emphasized.
He also noted that the effectiveness of development was not merely measured by poverty reduction but also by the growth of the middle class.
"Actually, the government has so far pursued double objectives, systematic and significant reduction of poverty rate, and at the same time, improvement of public welfare and the middle class," he stated.
In the 21st century, Indonesias progress was not measured by the number of conglomerates but by the growing middle class population.
When the number of middle class increased, it automatically meant that the poverty rate declined because some poor people managed to improve their welfare and joined the middle class group, he explained.
"Agricultural workers have become land owners, employees have become managers, and poor people have become businessmen, lecturers, or officials," he cited as examples.
