Infrastructure and Crucial Food Issue

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Pictures of presidential candidate number 01 Joko Widodo and presidential candidate number 02 Prabowo Subianto were prepared on Friday (15/2/2019) at the location of the second debate for the 2019 general election at the Sultan Hotel in Jakarta. The second debate, which will be held by the General Elections Commission (KPU), will take place on Sunday (17/2/2019) with the issues of focus being energy and food, natural resources and the environment and infrastructure.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Problems related to food and infrastructure are two issues considered very important to be resolved by the elected president. Therefore, in the second debate of the presidential candidates on Sunday (Feb. 17, 2019), Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto are expected to be able to explain their offer of solutions in the two sectors clearly and measurably.

The results of a Kompas survey on Feb. 13-14 2019, involving 620 respondents in 17 major cities in Indonesia, showed 51.8 percent of respondents considered food as the most important issue to be resolved by the elected president and vice president, followed respectively by infrastructure issues (15.3 percent), natural resources (12.1 percent), environment (10.5 percent) and energy (5.5 percent).

The debate between the two candidates will discuss energy, food, natural resources, environment and infrastructure. Debates will only involve the presidential candidates.

When asked more about issues that need to be prioritized in the infrastructure sector, respondents replied with the construction of public roads (38.7 percent), toll roads (21.9 percent) and roads in rural areas (14.4 percent). While in the food sector, 45.5 percent of respondents said food prices should be resolved immediately, followed by guaranteed food availability (30 percent) and food security strategies (8.2 percent).

Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Indonesian Agricultural Economic Association Bayu Krisnamurthi, when contacted on Friday (Feb. 15, 2019), said aspects of price control and supply security were

related. If food stock was guaranteed, prices can be controlled. Therefore, he said, to solve the food problems that have arisen in the community, the presidential candidate must have strategic technical measures to the operational level.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Workers prepare the stage for the second debate of the 2019 general election at the Sultan Hotel, Jakarta, on Friday (15/2/2019). The second debate, which will be held by the General Elections Commission (KPU), will present presidential candidate number 01 Joko Widodo and presidential candidate number 02 Prabowo Subianto. The debate will take place on Sunday (17/2/2019) with the issues of focus being energy and food, natural resources and the environment and infrastructure.

According to Bayu, the vision and mission of the two presidential and vice presidential candidates in the food issue has shown that there is concern to solve problems in the sector.

“However, vision and mission is not enough. At the technical and operational level, state leaders will have to be able to collaborate with every actor in the food sector, such as industry, farmers, companies and experts,” he said.

Candidates see it as important

Spokesperson for the Jokowi-Ma\'ruf Amin National Campaign Team, Ace Hasan Syadzily, said food-related issues were considered important by Jokowi because food was a basic need.

Meanwhile, Prabowo-Sandiaga Uno campaign team spokesman Andre Rosiade said the results of the Kompas survey were in line with Prabowo\'s great commitment to strengthening the national food sector. Prabowo, Andre said, was committed to making agriculture the foundation of economic growth.

Regarding infrastructure issues, the executive director of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef), Enny Sri Hartati, said people’s demand for connectivity in infrastructure was reasonable. Because, good road infrastructure facilitates mobility, both for people and goods.

“The most important thing is how we utilize infrastructure so as to provide added value to economic activities,” he said.

Enny hopes that in the future infrastructure construction is directed toward activities that provide added value in the community, such as supporting small or micro scale industries in rural areas.

No less important

In addition to the issue of food and infrastructure, three other issues, namely energy, natural resources and the environment, also need the attention of the presidential candidate.

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Community and Cultural Research Center sociology researcher Henny Warsilah said the second debate was very important for the efforts to improve people\'s welfare and justice. For example, related to the ecological and natural resource crisis, the dimensions of law enforcement have not been sufficiently improved with sanctions.

Forests Coalition coordinator Khalisah Khalid said the elected president needed to immediately initiate fair natural resource governance and shift from fossil energy to renewable energy.

In the energy sector, Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia national coordinator Maryati Abdullah said the elected government must be able to change the mindset of people, from seeing natural resources as commodities to seeing them as the engine of development. (SAN/NAD/APO/INK/JUD/ICH)