Minister Susi: Funds for Fuel Subsidy Can Build 25 Universities
9 November 2014 11:54 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Fishery and Maritime Affairs Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said that funds used for fuel subsidy, which is Rp300 trillion, is way too much. Therefore, Susi hoped President Joko Widodo would eliminate the subsidy with ‘mature planning’.
Susi also said that fuel subsidy could be relocated to various sector with one of them being education sector.
"If Rp. 100 trillion is allocated for education sector, we can build 10 more Indonesian University, 10 more Gadjah Mada University, 10 more Bandung Institute of Technology, and five more Gadjah Mada University,” she said during the Chief Editors Meeting at Grand Hyatt Hotel, Jakarta, Friday, November 7, 2014.
As of now, the growth of universities in the country remains slow and that, Susi said, caused the lack of human resources in the country.
"Imagine if Indonesia has more universities. That way, we can boost the quality of our human resources,” she added.
Susi further said that fuel subsidy is not well-targeted either. For example, she said that the majority of fishermen who enjoy the Rp11 trillion subsidy is big-scale fishermen.
"Small-scale fishermen actually agree with the increase of fuel price. However, they only demand the certainty of fuel supply,” she added.
HUSSEIN ABRI YUSUF