TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) revealed that gap in Human Development Index or HDI between provinces and districts i n Indonesia still existed throughout 2016. The condition can be observed by comparing life, education, and decent living standards expectancy through the analysis of a specific region's annual spending per capita.
Head of BPS, Suhariyanto, said that the inter-region HDI varies and is considerably high. 12 provinces have a high level of HDI, 21 provinces have a medium level of HDI, and one province has the lowest HDI level.
Jakarta and Yogyakarta sits on top of the list, meanwhile the lowest level of HDI is recorded in Papua, West Papua, and East Nusa Tenggara. "Each year, the level of HDI progresses positively. But we still have homework to do, which is to push Papua and other Indonesian provinces in the eastern hemisphere to catch-up with Indonesia's Western regions," Suhariyanto said on Monday, April 17, 2017.
Based on UNDP's scoring standards, the development index scoring under 60 are considered low, the regions scoring between 60-70 are considered medium, meanwhile the highest is between 70-80.
Indonesia's HDI improved by 0.91 percent, resulting to a final score of 70.18 percent. "We improved from medium to high, barely," Suhariyanto said.
An economic expert from the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance Eko Listiyanto, said that large numbers of development are still concentrated in Java Island.
"Politically, if the government hands out Rp 100 trillion equally [throughout the country], the effect would be more noticeable in Java Island," Eko said. "It would take five years for the outer regions [to develop]," Eko added.
PUTRI ADITYOWATI
