The heavy problems faced by Jakarta now are not only flood and traffic jam, but also chronic urban poverty. In the city, poverty is a reality that is easily seen in many places, such as riverbank, railroad suburb and other slum areas.
During one half year of Joko Widodo (Jokowi) tenure as the governor of Jakarta, the poverty reduction is remain in slow motion. Moreever, according to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data announced in Febraury this year, the number of poor people in Jakarta rose from 3,7 percent in September 2012 to 3,72 percent of the population in September 2013. It means, Jokowi’s performance in term of poverty elevation is not yet optimun.
Besides poverty, inequality is also the serious problem in Jakarta. Factually, economic disparity between the poor and the non-poor is also high. The BPS data showed that Jakarta is one of the provinces with the worst economic disparity in this country. For instance, in September 2013, the Gini Index—an indicator used to count economic disparity—of the city was 0,433 percent. This figure shows that the economic progress of the city all this time is not enjoyed by poor people.
Currently, Jokowi is one of the presidential candidates besides Probowo Subianto. They will fight in the upcoming presidential election that will be held on July 9. On paper, Jokowi has more chance to win the election than Prabowo has. According to the recent survey held by Lingkaran Survei Indonesia (LSI), the popularity and electability of Jokowi are higher than Prabowo.
As the potential candidate to win the election, Jokowi has promised that he would pay more attention to fate of poor people or wong cilik. Of course, we hope, if Jokowi is elected as the president, he will fulfill his promise, and he more success in term of poverty elevation than his achievement in Jakarta. (*)
