UNDERDEVELOPED VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT REQUIRES THE ROLE OF THE INDONESIAN NATIONAL ARMY

PersatuanindoNEWS.com - National development that starts from the outskirts and villages will be maximized if all elements of society, including the support of the Indonesian National Army (TNI), participate.

The Minister of Village, Underdeveloped Region Development, and Transmigration, Marwan Jafar, emphasized that the support of the TNI is crucial in village development, especially in underdeveloped and border villages, to achieve equitable national development.

"The TNI, which has the main duty in the field of national defense, certainly needs to start this duty with strengthening in other forms, such as economic resilience, culture, health, and adequate politics," said Marwan at the 2015 Central Regional Military District Commander and Military District Commander Roll Call event at the AKMIL building in Magelang, Central Java, on Wednesday (11/18).

Marwan reminded that the TNI's duties can be divided into two, namely military operations for war and military operations other than war. There are also second duties carried out when not engaged in war, which are noble and beneficial to the Indonesian people. One of these duties is the role of the TNI in supporting food security, which is highly needed.

The implementation of these duties can be seen, for example, in the involvement of the TNI in assisting food security in Papua, the involvement of the TNI in boosting rice, corn, and soybean production in North Sulawesi, and many other roles of the TNI in helping maintain food security in Indonesia.

"The development of villages will be more effective and faster with support from all elements, including the TNI. This is a noble task for the progress of the nation," Marwan concluded.

Marwan explained that so far there has been the Village Integrated Development Program (TMMD), which is a collaboration program between the Indonesian Army and all components of local government agencies to build physical and non-physical infrastructure. This program aims to fulfill public facilities in the area for the benefit of the wider community.

"One example of the TMMD program is in Bakung Village, Bojonegoro. The TNI, together with the villagers, carried out road paving improvements, renovation of houses, mosques, and bridges, as well as irrigation channel normalization. In addition, the TMMD program also provided guidance at the Village Hall for the utilization of 50 plant seedlings as part of the healthy and nutritious garden program in Bakung village's integrated health post," said Marwan.

The role of the TNI in village development is also closely related to equitable national development. Marwan revealed data showing that there has been a development gap between the Western Indonesia Region (KBI) and the Eastern Indonesia Region (KTI). This can be seen from the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate.

For 30 years, development has been concentrated in Java and Sumatra. From 1983 to 2013, the GDP in the Eastern Indonesia Region did not experience significant growth. In 2013, the Gross Domestic Product in the Maluku and Papua regions was only 2.2%, Bali and Nusa Tenggara 2.5%, Sulawesi 4.8%, Kalimantan 8.7%. The highest Gross Domestic Product was in Sumatra with 23.4% and Java with 58.0%. Furthermore, based on the 2015-2019 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN), there are 122 underdeveloped districts.

Out of these, 103 districts (84.43%) are in the Eastern Indonesia Region (KTI), and 19 districts (15.57%) are in the Western Indonesia Region (KBI). Additionally, the number of underdeveloped villages in Indonesia is relatively high. A total of 20,176 villages out of a total of 74,093 villages in Indonesia are classified as underdeveloped. The majority of underdeveloped villages are located in the Eastern Indonesia Region (KTI). Papua is one of the regions in KTI with the highest number of underdeveloped villages, with a total of 6,071 villages out of 6,746 villages (91%).

In conclusion, Marwan hopes that the TNI, especially the Regional Military Commanders and Military District Commanders who are at the forefront of duty in border areas, will play a more active role in solving the nation's problems that are truly felt by the people. This is primarily because in preparing the area as an effective defense stronghold, which is the main task of the TNI, it is necessary to start with strengthening other aspects such as economic resilience, culture, health, and adequate politics.

"The breakthroughs and strategies in the development of border areas are expected to ultimately realize the Border Areas as a Competitive, Sovereign, and Secure Indonesian National Unity Territory," concluded Marwan.