NU warns govt of New Order-style development paradigm

Jakarta, NU Online
Chairman of the Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Prof. KH Maksum Mahfudz warned the government not to act arrogantly and harshly in imposing any development plans in a region, including the development of Cilamaya Port, Karawang.

"Any development should not to sacrifice the people. Because the essence of development must pay attention to the benefit to the people and protect them from tyranny," Maksum said, while explaining the principles of leadership in Islam, namely tasharruful imam, manutun bil maslahah (the leader's policy aims to benefit his people)

"Hadith (the Prophet's tradition) also said, the leader or government is God's representative in charge of protecting the oppressed. So the government should not act tyrannically and ignore the voice of the people. Development should not even interfere with people's livelihood," he said.

He warned the the Jokowi's government not to get stuck on the New Order-style development paradigm, which ignores the interests of poor communities for the sake of investors.

He cited the cases of Kedung Ombo and Freeport which till now have not yet given more benefits to the local community.

"The essence of EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment), including social feasibility is always ignored. Whereas the social feasibility should be prioritized. The government has most of the time ignored reality. People's rejection occurs due to a variety of things. Remember the Kedungombo case that led to conflicts for many years. Also many other cases that occur as a result of ignoring the voice of the people," he explained.

As reported, the Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan said that Cilamaya seaport in Karawang, West Java, should be developed to accelerate the shipment of cargo from industrial areas in the district.

During a discussion with journalists at the office of the transportation ministry in Jakarta recently, Jonan stated that if Cilamaya seaport was not developed, it would not only raise logistics expenditures but would also lead to congestion in Jakarta.

"Cilamaya port, which is 70 kilometers east of Jakarta, was established to ship industrial products manufactured in Karawang. If efforts to develop the port fail and industrial products still need to be shipped from Jakarta, what will Jakarta look like?" the minister questioned.

If the development of Cilamaya seaport is postponed, it will go against a key strategy of the working cabinet, which is lowering logistics spending that impact national welfare.

According to Jonan, logistics spending in Indonesia is still some 20 percent at present, compared to eight percent in developed countries.

"We should lower it (logistics expenditures) slowly. If we dont, it will hamper efforts to improve national welfare," he reminded.

Jonan, however, did not know about the status of the project because it was still being deliberated by the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas).

Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq