Kiai Said alludes to economic inequality in front of president and vice president

Central Lampung, NU Online

The General Chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama Central Board (PBNU) KH Said Aqil Siroj (Kiai Said) touched on the issue of natural resource wealth having not been fully felt by the Indonesian people. In fact, according to him, Indonesia has the potential of extraordinary natural resources from forests to oceans.

 

“The land is filled with forests that support the world's lungs, beneath there are a lot of mineral wealth. The sea contains incomparable blue economic potential, underneath it is stored not only fish, but also abundant oil and gas and mineral reserves," said Kiai Said in his speech at the opening ceremony of the NU Congress which was also attended by President and Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia at Darussa'adah Islamic Boarding School (pesantren), Wednesday (22/12/2021).

 

In order that the wealth is felt by all Indonesian people, he advised the government to balance growth with equity, and create superior human resources (HR) as development capital.

 

"Currently, so that all of this can be felt by the wider community, excellent human resources are needed, who are able to process these natural resources as development capital," explained the kiai from Cirebon.

 

This, he said, was important to do to avoid economic inequality in society. This is because equity is an absolute prerequisite for realizing peace.

 

"Equitable distribution of welfare is an absolute prerequisite for the creation of peace," explained Kiai Said.

 

Furthermore, the NU figure said that currently society was faced with various kinds of problems and new challenges of the times. These challenges include: climate change, economic inequality, bio-technology, polarization, radicalism, and the technology crisis.

 

According to him, this is a long list of concerns for millennials.

 

“This long list can be summarized as millennial concerns which must clearly be handled, require collaboration with citizens of the world, not just Indonesian citizens," he explained.

 

Responding to the Kiai Said's statement, Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated that economic equity was not an easy thing to achieve. However, he believed, these difficulties could be handled by NU members (Nahdliyin), most of whom are pesantren graduates from major universities.

 

"The economy of the people, we know a lot was also conveyed by the chairman of PBNU about economic equality. We speak frankly that this is not easy to do. But I believe this can be done because I see that there are many NU youths and students who are smart from the world's major universities," said President Jokowi.

 

"This must be knitted in a power locomotive and I believe this can pull the grassroot economy," he continued.

 

The President was also committed to developing a platform for young people to do business, such as PT. He would prepare land concessions for agriculture, mineral and coal concessions engaged in nickel, coal, mining, tin, and others.

 

"I also see that many NU young people are technologically savvy. In the future we must enter there, but we must be careful not to let this technology damage society, we want this technology to be useful," he said.

 

Apart from that, President Jokowi appreciated the implementation of strict health protocols with assistance from the Covid-19 Task Force in organizing the NU 34th Congress. He hoped the participants could return in good health.

 

"I appreciate the health protocols accompanied by the task force. God willing, we will return to our respective areas in good health," he hoped.

 

Contributor: Syifa Arrahmah

Editor: Sudarto Murtaufiq