Mobilitas Penduduk dan Alternatif Kebijakan Pengendalian Urbanisasi (Kasus Jawa Barat)

Abstract

Urbanisasi merupakan salah satu masalah yang sangat mendasar yang terjadi di berbagai kota besar. Dalam banyak hal, urbanisasi menghasilkan efek bola salju seperti kesemerawutan lalu lintas, pertumbuhan PKL yang tidak terkendali, produksi sampah yang berlebih, serta munculnya kemiskinan di perkotaan. Atas dasar itu, pemerintah perlu memberi perhatian seius guna menemukan strategi kebijakan yang manjur untuk mengatasi problem tersebut. Dalam rangka menggali solusi terbaik untuk mengatasi permasalahan akibat urbanisasi, tulisan ini menekankan pentingnya kebijakan administratif, disamping kegiatan non-administratif yang selama ini telah biasa dijalankan. Selain itu, tulisan ini juga mendukung gagasan untuk memperkuat kebijakan yang telah ada sekaligus untuk mengembangkan strategi-strategi baru untuk mengendalikan arus urbanisasi.

Urbanization constitutes one of basic problems encountered by city government. To many extents, it produces ‘snowball’ effects such as traffic congestion, uncontrolled informal traders, excessive volume of garbage, and urban poverty. That’s why local governments have to pay adequate attention to find out a comprehensive policy in dealing with such problems. In the context of exploring best solution for urbanization-caused problems, this paper emphasizes the importance of administrative policies instead of non-administrative policies. In addition, this paper supports the idea to strengthen current efforts as well as to encourage inventive strategies.

Pengantar

            Semenjak munculnya Revolusi Industri di Eropa abad ke-18 yang diikuti oleh tumbuhnya wilayah-wilayah perkotaan (urban areas), arus perpindahan penduduk dari desa ke kota menjadi fenomena yang abadi hingga saat ini. Hal ini sangat wajar, mengingat fenomena kota-kota baru selalu ditandai oleh berkembangnya kegiatan ekonomi sebagai trigger utama laju urbanisasi. Urbanisasi sendiri merupakan suatu kondisi terkonsentrasinya penduduk di wilayah perkotaan, baik yang disebabkan oleh arus migrasi desa-kota maupun karena perubahan fungsi wilayah pedesaan menjadi wilayah yang bercorak perkotaan.

Di Jawa Barat, misalnya, fenomena urbanisasi juga sangat menyolok. Sebagai indikasinya, pada tahun 2005 nanti total penduduk di Jawa Barat di perkirakan berjumlah 38,67 juta jiwa. Padahal, pada tahun 2000, jumlah penduduk Jawa Barat baru 35,72 juta jiwa, dan pada tahun 2002 berjumlah 36,91 juta jiwa (tidak termasuk data kabupaten/kota di wilayah Banten yang telah menjadi propinsi tersendiri semenjak tahun 2000). Ini berarti, laju pertumbuhan penduduk antara tahun 2000-2002 di propinsi terpadat di Indonesia ini adalah 1,65% per tahun, dan periode 2002-2005 menurun menjadi 1,56% (Setiawan, 2004: 143-146). Dilihat dari peta persebarannya, ternyata penduduk Jawa Barat lebih banyak berada di wilayah perkotaan dibanding daerah pedesaan. Selain faktor migrasi desa-kota, proporsi penduduk perkotaan yang lebih besar dibanding penduduk pedesaan ini juga disebabkan oleh banyaknya perubahan status desa menjadi kelurahan, serta munculnya kota-kota otonom baru.

Dari data diatas dapat diperkirakan bahwa urbanisasi merupakan faktor yang berkontribusi terhadap meledaknya jumlah penduduk di perkotaan. Hal ini diperkuat oleh data SP 2000 dan Susenas 2002 yang melaporkan bahwa tingkat urbanisasi di Jawa Barat meningkat dari 50,31% (2000) menjadi 51,83% (2002). Dari sini dapat diestimasikan bahwa tingkat urbanisasi di Jawa Barat tahun 2005 menjadi 54,40% (Setiawan, 2004: 158). Dengan demikian, secara umum dapat disimpulkan bahwa tingkat mobilitas penduduk di Jawa Barat sangat tinggi dan cenderung mengalami peningkatan dari waktu ke waktu.

Adanya fakta tingginya jumlah penduduk, laju pertumbuhan penduduk, serta arus urbanisasi di Jawa Barat ini, harus benar-benar diperhatikan para pemegang kebijakan, baik di lingkungan eksekutif maupun legislatif. Sebab, laju pertumbuhan penduduk dan urbanisasi yang tidak terkendali akan membawa dampak yang tidak menguntungkan baik bagi masyarakat Jawa Barat maupun bagi proses pembangunan yang berlangsung di tatar Jawa Barat. Sementara disisi lain harus diakui bahwa kebijakan yang ada selama ini kurang efektif untuk mengendalikan laju kependudukan (khususnya arus urbanisasi).

Atas dasar pemikiran diatas, makalah ini mencoba menguraikan beberapa persoalan yang muncul yang bersumber dari mobilitas penduduk yang tinggi di Jawa Barat. Secara substantif, makalah dibagi dalam 2 (dua) materi yakni tentang pemahaman tentang urbanisasi dan berbagai implikasi yang ada, serta permasalahan dan kebijakan penanganan urbanisasi di Jawa Barat, baik yang bersifat aktual (kebijakan saat ini) maupun prospektif (peluang implementasi dimasa mendatang).

Anatomi Urbanisasi

Pengertian urbanisasi sesungguhnya berbeda dengan migrasi desa-kota. Secara teoretis akademis, urbanisasi diartikan sebagai bertambahnya penduduk kota, baik karena adanya perluasan wilayah kota, kelahiran di perkotaan, maupun terjadinya migrasi desa-kota. Dari pengertian ini jelaslah bahwa migrasi desa-kota merupakan bagian dari fenomena urbanisasi secara keseluruhan. Namun dalam pemahaman sehari-hari, urbanisasi lebih sering disamakan dengan proses berpindahnya penduduk desa ke perkotaan (migrasi desa-kota).

Secara umum, motif utama terjadinya arus urbanisasi adalah alasan ekonomi. Dengan mengutip Wilkinson (1973) dan Brock (1996), Tjiptoherijanto (1999) menyebutkan bahwa menurut teori neoclassical economics, perpindahan penduduk merupakan keputusan pribadi yang didasarkan atas keinginan secara sukarela (voluntary planned migration) untuk mendapatkan kesejahteraan maksimum dan merupakan proses untuk mempertahankan hidup. Hasil SUPAS !995 mengemukakan 7 (tujuh) alasan utama perpindahan dari perkotaan ke pedesaan, yakni 1) pekerjaan, 2) mencari pekerjaan, 3) pendidikan, 4) perubahan status perkawinan, 5) ikut suami / istri / orang tua / anak, 6) ikut saudara kandung / famili lain,dan 7) perumahan.

Tentu saja banyak variabel yang menyebabkan tingginya arus urbanisasi. Michael Lipton dalam Hendrizal (2004) pernah mengatakan bahwa orang berurbanisasi merupakan refleksi dari gejala kemandekan ekonomi di desa yang dicirikan oleh sulitnya mencari lowongan pekerjaan dan fragmentasi lahan, serta daya tarik kota dengan penghasilan tinggi. Dengan demikian, faktor pendorong (push factors) dan faktor penarik (pull factors) sama-sama menjadi determinan penting dalam proses urbanisasi tersebut. Oleh karena itu, urbanisasi sesungguhnya merupakan pilihan yang rasional bagi penduduk desa dalam upaya mendapatkan pendapatan yang lebih baik dibandingkan sewaktu mereka tetap bertahan di desa. Dengan kata lain, urbanisasi muncul karena adanya kesenjangan atau gap dalam penyediaan fasilitas umum (public utilities) antara desa dan kota, seperti fasilitas pendidikan, kesehatan, hiburan, komunikasi dan informasi, hingga lapangan pekerjaan di berbagai bidang.

Ditinjau dari segi dampak, urbanisasi sebenarnya bersifat netral, dalam arti dapat menimbulkan efek positif maupun negatif, tergantung dari intensitas urbanisasi tersebut. Dalam beberapa hal, urbanisasi dapat memberi keuntungan baik bagi penduduk pedesaan maupun perkotaan (Utomo, 2003). Bagi penduduk desa, urbanisasi dapat mengurangi terjadinya informasi yang keliru (asymmetric information) tentang suatu hal, sekaligus meningkatkan hak masyarakat desa untuk ikut mengakses berbagai layanan umum. Sedangkan bagi masyarakat perkotaan, arus urbanisasi bermanfaat sebagai penyedia tenaga kerja yang mendukung proses industrialisasi dan perdagangan di perkotaan. World Bank (dalam Setiawan, 2004) sendiri pernah melaporkan adanya korelasi positif antara tingkat urbanisasi di suatu negara dengan tingkat pendapatan per kapita. Dalam kasus seperti ini, untuk mempercepat pembangunan diperlukan peningkatan jumlah migran dan frekuensi urbanisasi atau migrasi desa-kota.

Dari perspektif sebaliknya, urbanisasi juga dapat menimbulkan akibat yang merugikan. Bagi wilayah pedesaan, urbanisasi akan mendorong terjadinya de-populasi di pedesaan, sehingga mengurangi jumlah penduduk yang bermatapencaharian di bidang pertanian. Pada gilirannya, kondisi ini berpotensi mengurangi produksi pangan dan pemenuhan kebutuhan pangan bagi penduduk kota. Sementara di wilayah perkotaan, urbanisasi sering menjadi sumber bagi kasus-kasus pengangguran, perumahan kumuh, serta kemiskinan yang akut akibat tidak imbangnya penawaran dan permintaan tenaga kerja (excess of labor supply). Situasi seperti ini akan mengantarkan pada situasi lain berupa rendahnya produktivitas dan meningkatnya inflasi (Utomo, 2003). Sejalan dengan hal itu, Smith and Nemeth (dalam Setiawan, 2004) juga menyatakan bahwa urbanisasi harus dikendalikan. Sebab, urbanisasi yang tidak terkendali bisa menimbulkan dampak buruk bagi penduduk kota dan desa, serta pengaruh makro bagi negara.

Sementara itu Hendrizal (2004) mengemukakan beberapa kerugian dari urbanisasi. Ia menyatakan bahwa terjadinya peralihan tenaga kerja yang pindah dari pedesaan ke perkotaan yang tidak mampu ditampung dalam sektor formal, mengakibatkan timbulnya deformasi secara drastis dan meluas pada sektor jasa dalam penyerapan tenaga kerja. Kondisi itu terjadi bukan karena adanya permintaan yang melonjak akan jasa-jasa di sektor industri, namun lebih disebabkan oleh ketidakmampuan sektor industri dalam menyerap tenaga kerja. Dalam dimensi penataan kota, keberadaan sektor jasa maupun informal juga melahirkan masalah dilematis di dalam formulasi kebijakan tata kota. Di satu sisi pemerintah tetap ingin menghormati hak-hak ekonomi mereka, tetapi di sisi lain eksistensi mereka cenderung membuat kota menjadi semrawut dan tidak nyaman. Dalam kasus-kasus tertentu juga tampak, banyak kota sudah kehilangan nilai-nilai historis dan budayanya yang disebabkan oleh meningkatnya aktivitas perekonomian di kawasan itu. Pengelompokan tempat tinggal berdasarkan asal daerah/etnik, juga menjadi salah satu ekses negatif yang timbul sehubungan dengan arus urbanisasi. Adanya kampung Cina, kampung Jawa, kampung Batak, kampung Madura dan lainnya, tentunya sangat potensial dalam menciptakan konflik antarwarga yang berbasis pada perbedaan etnik.

Masalahnya sekarang adalah bahwa urbanisasi adalah realitas yang kita hadapi. Oleh karena itu, yang terpenting adalah memikirkan berbagai kebijakan yang komprehensif untuk mengatasi dampak-dampak buruk yang ditimbulkan oleh urbanisasi. Membangun fasilitas umum pedesaan seperti di perkotaan jelas suatu upaya yang teramat sulit. Dalam konteks seperti ini, Utomo (2003) menawarkan 3 (tiga) upaya yang dapat ditempuh oleh pemerintah, yaitu sebagai berikut: membangun fasilitas umum secara bertahap di pedesaan sehingga dapat mengurangi kesenjangan desa-kota (providing some public utilities or social services in rural area); mengemballikan beberapa kaum migran ke daerah asal setelah memperoleh keterampilan tertentu (returning migrants to the region they come from); serta memberikan bantuan keuangan dan pelatihan kepada kaum migran di bidang pengolahan pertanian dan industri kecil (giving both financial assistance to agriculture and training unskilled labor force).

Dalam kaitan dengan upaya pengendalian urbanisasi ini, Hendrizal (2004) mengkritik pendekatan ekonomi yang selama ini dipakai oleh pemerintah. Ia mengatakan bahwa “pembangunan pusat-pusat pertumbuhan (growth center) maupun program kawasan terpadu (melalui peningkatan produktivitas dan diversifikasi usaha tani, peningkatan kemampuan sumber daya manusia, penguatan kelembagaan, pengembangan usaha ekonomi non-pertanian, peningkatan sarana fisik desa, dan peningkatan landasan mutu lingkungan hidup) ternyata kurang efektif dalam mencegah arus migrasi yang masuk ke kota”. Sebagai gantinya, ia menawarkan pendekatan budaya, dimana desa yang punya potensi budaya, sebetulnya bisa diangkat sebagai desa wisata percontohan yang pada akhirnya bisa memberikan kontribusi besar terhadap perkembangan ekonomi desa dan daerah.

Kondisi Urbanisasi di Jawa Barat

Diatas telah disinggung bahwa dilihat dari aspek dampaknya, migrasi atau urbanisasi sesungguhnya merupakan konsep yang netral. Namun kenyataannya, fakta ini sudah melahirkan problem perkotaan yang cukup akut. Hal ini disebabkan oleh tumbuhnya kawasan perkotaan secara pesat tanpa disertai dengan upaya pengendalian dan penyediaan fasilitas-fasilitas baru di perkotaan. Sebagai gambaran, sebagaimana dilaporkan oleh BPS Jawa Barat (2000), penduduk yang tinggal di wilayah perkotaan di Jawa Barat pada tahun 1980 hanya 21,02% dari total penduduk. Namun hanya dalam kurun waktu 10 tahun berikutnya, persentase tadi melonjak menjadi 34,51%, dan meningkat lagi menjadi 42,69% pada tahun 1995. Ini berarti, rata-rata laju pertumbuhan penduduk perkotaan di Jawa Barat adalah sebesar 7,78% (periode 1980-1990), dan 6,51% (periode 1990-1995).

Dalam hubungan ini, paling tidak terdapat 4 (empat) issu besar yang dihadapi oleh sebagian besar kota-kota di Jawa Barat sebagai ekses dari arus urbanisasi yang kurang terkendali, yakni: transportasi (khususnya kemacetan lalu lintas), PKL (Pedagang Kaki Lima), kebersihan (volume sampah yang berlebih), serta kemiskinan kota. Permasalahan tadi secara langsung maupun tidak langsung, sangat dipengaruhi oleh kondisi kependudukan, khususnya yang berhubungan dengan pertumbuhan penduduk yang kurang terkendali.

Dari data nominal, SP 2000 mencatat bahwa arus migran masuk risen ke Jawa Barat sebesar 1.097.021 jiwa, atau 1.74 kali lebih besar dibanding arus migran keluar risen sebesar 631.753 jiwa. Dilihat dari asalnya, arus migrasi ke Jawa Barat sebagian terbesar datang dari DKI Jakarta (39,80%), disusul oleh Jawa Tengah (24,72%), Banten (9,70%), Jawa Timur (6,46%), Sumatera Utara (4%), DI Yogyakarta (2,65%), dan daerah lainnya sebesar 12,67%. Dari jumlah migran yang masuk, penerima terbesar adalah wilayah Bekasi (kabupaten/kota) sebesar 24,92%, wilayah Bogor (kabupaten/kota) sebesar 17,34%, wilayah Bandung (kabupaten/kota) sebesar 13,70%, Kota Depok sebesar 11,34%, dan sisanya tersebar di wilayah Jabar lainnya. Sementara daerah / propinsi yang menjadi tujuan migran asal Jawa Barat adalah Banten sebesar 31,52%, DKI Jakarta 29,46%, Jawa Timur 2,64%, dan sisanya menyebar ke daerah lainnya (Dwitjahyono, 2004).

Data diatas menunjukkan bahwa migrasi masuk di Jawa Barat lebih besar dibanding mgrasi keluar. Keadaan ini agak berbeda dengan kondisi kota-kota besar di Jawa Barat seperti Kota Sukabumi, Kota Bogor, dan Kota Cirebon, dimana arus migrasi masuk ke kota-kota tadi ternyata lebih kecil dibanding dengan arus keluar. Untuk wilayah yang berkarakter pedesaan dan pertanian seperti Indramayu, Sumedang, Majalengka, Kab. Tasikmalaya, Ciamis, Subang, dan sebagainya, arus migrasi keluar jauh lebih besar dibanding arus migrasi masuk, dan hal ini sangat logis dan wajar. Meskipun demikian, ada juga kasus dimana wilayah kabupaten tertentu seperti Cianjur, Kab. Bandung, Kab. Purwakarta, dan Kab. Karawang, justru menjadi daerah penerima migrasi daripada sebagai pengirim. Artinya, daerah-daerah ini menerima arus migrasi masuk yang lebih besar. Dalam kasus demikian, dapat diinterpretasikan bahwa daerah-daerah tadi merupakan daerah yang secara ekonomis sedang tumbuh secara pesat (developing regions) sehingga menjadi tujuan yang sangat potensial bagi kaum migran.

Namun perlu ditekankan bahwa fakta seperti ini tidak berarti telah terjadi pergeseran tujuan migrasi/urbanisasi ke wilayah pedesaan (non kota besar). Kesimpulan yang lebih rasional adalah menurunnya daya dukung perkotaan (carrying capacity) seperti lahan dan sarana perumahan untuk menampung migran baru. Dengan demikian, kawasan perkotaan tetap menarik arus pendatang dari pedesaan, namun mereka cenderung tinggal di wilayah pinggiran kota, yang secara administratif merupakan wilayah kabupaten yang bertetangga dengan kota besar tadi.

Selain empat issu pokok (transportasi, PKL, kebersihan, dan kemiskinan), banyaknya penduduk dan laju pertumbuhannya juga berpotensi menimbulkan masalah sosial (social problems) seperti pengangguran, dan bahkan kriminalitas di perkotaan. Oleh karena itu, kebijakan bidang kependudukan harus diperhatikan benar-benar, bukan hanya untuk mencapai tertib administrasi kependudukan, namun juga memberi dasar yang kokoh untuk berjalannya kebijakan di bidang lain secara optimal.

Kebijakan Penanganan Urbanisasi di Jawa Barat

Selama ini, kebijakan yang banyak diterapkan di berbagai daerah untuk mengendalikan laju urbanisasi dapat dikelompokkan menjadi 2 (dua), yakni kebijakan administratif, dan kebijakan non-administratif (ekonomis). Kebijakan administratif antara lain berupa operasi yustisi (razia KTP, KIPEM – Kartu Identitas Penduduk Musiman, KIK – Kartu Identitas Kerja, dll), serta Registrasi Penduduk Berbasis NIK (Inpres No. 14/1999). Sedangkan kebijakan non-administratif antara lain adalah pembangunan pedesaan / growth pole dan pemberdayaan masyarakat pedesaan, peningkatan sarana fisik pedesaan, diversifikasi usaha tani, serta penguatan kelembagaan masyarakat pedesaan (P3A, LMD, LSM, dll).

Namun dalam prakteknya, kebijakan diatas belum mampu menjadi instrumen yang efektif untuk menahan dan mengerem laju urbanisasi. Bahkan kebijakan tentang SIAK (Sistem Informasi Administrasi Kependudukan) secara nasional sehingga dapat menghasilkan satu nomor registrasi untuk satu penduduk (NIK), belum dapat terelaisasikan hingga saat ini karena terbentuk oleh kendala software dan hardware penunjangnya. Sementara kebijakan ekonomis seperti pengembangan industri di pedesaan serta peningkatan sarana fisik pedesaan jelas kurang feasible, karena membutuhkan anggaran yang teramat besar serta jangka waktu yang teramat panjang.

Itulah sebabnya, perlu segera dipikirkan adanya kebijakan baru yang bersifat terobosan dan lebih inovatif, sehingga dapat mencairkan kebuntuan kebijakan yang terjadi selama ini. Adapun beberapa alternatif kebijakan baik yang telah ditetapkan maupun yang prospektif untuk dikembangkan, dapat ditawarkan sebagai berikut.

1.      Kebijakan tentang 8 Kawasan Andalan (Perda No. 2 tahun 2003 tentang Rencana Tata Ruang Wilayah Propinsi Jawa Barat).

Kebijakan ini diarahkan untuk menciptakan pertumbuhan dan pemerataan pemmbangunan wilayah sesuai dengan kegiatan utamanya melalui penyediaan prasarana wilayah, sehingga diharapkan dapat mendorong pertumbuhan ekonomi bagi kawasan yang bersangkutan maupun kawasan sekitarnya. Adapun ke-8 Kawasan Andalan tersebut adalah:

a.       Kawasan Andalan Bogor – Depok – Bekasi (Bodebek) dengan kegiatan utama industri, pariwisata, jasa, dan sumberdaya manusia.

b.      Kawasan Andalan Bogor – Puncak – Cianjur (Bopuncur) dengan kegiatan utama agribisnis dan pariwisata.

c.       Kawasan Andalan Sukabumi dan sekitarnya dengan kegiatan utama agribisnis, pariwisata dan bisnis kelautan.

d.      Kawasan Andalan Priangan Timur dan sekitarnya (Priatim dsk) dengan kegiatan utama agribisnis, bisnis kelautan, dan pariwisata.

e.       Kawasan Andalan Cekungan Bandung dengan kegiatan utama pengembangan sumberdaya manusia, jasa, agribisnis, pariwisata, dan industri.

f.        Kawasan Andalan Pangandaran dan sekitarnya dengan kegiatan utama pariwisata dan bisnis kelautan.

g.       Kawasan Andalan Cirebon – Indramayu – Majalengka – Kuningan (Ciayumajakuning) dengan kegiatan utama agribisnis, jasa, pariwisata, industri, sumberdaya manusia, dan bisnis kelautan.

h.       Kawasan Andalan Purwakarta – Subang – Karawang (Purwasuka) dengan kegiatan utama industri, agribisnis, pariwisata, dan bisnis kelautan.

Adanya kebijakan tentang pengembangan kawasan andalan tersebut berpotensi menimbulkan perubahan terhadap pola urbanisasi, khususnya yang menyangkut aspek lokus / tujuan. Sebelum adanya penetapan kawasan andalan, wilayah yang menjadi sasaran kaum pendatang adalah ibukota daerah kabupaten maupun kota. Namun dengan adanya kawasan pengembangan baru, maka arus pendatang dapat terpecah dan tersebar secara lebih merata ke wilayah lain dalam batas-batas kawasan pengembangan tersebut. Dengan demikian, kebijakan tentang kawasan andalan ini paling tidak dapat menghasilkan 2 (dua) efek positif, yaitu:

a.       Mengurangi tingkat konsentrasi penduduk pada suatu wilayah tertentu (biasanya ibukota kabupaten/kota), sehingga dapat tercapai kondisi penyebaran penduduk yang lebih merata.

b.      Menunjang proses pembangunan di berbagai wilayah sehingga dapat tercapai hasil-hasil pembangunan yang lebih merata pula. Pada gilirannya, kondisi ini diharapkan dapat mengurangi kesenjangan antar daerah serta kesenjangan desa – kota dalam suatu daerah otonom tertentu (regional disparity).

Kedua efek positif padi hanya dapat tercapai jika 2 (dua) asumsi berikut terpenuhi: 1) di kawasan andalan tersebut terjadi investasi / penanaman modal dalam skala yang memadai dan berlangsung tidak hanya untuk jangka pendek (capital intensive), serta 2) aktivitas ekonomi di wilayah kawasan andalan tersebut membutuhkan tenaga kerja dalam jumlah besar (labor intensive). Tanpa adanya kedua prasyarat ini, maka kebijakan penetapan kawasan andalan di Jawa Barat tidak akan membawa perubahan yang berarti terhadap besaran dan sebaran urbanisasi.

2.      Persyaratan surat jaminan adanya pekerjaan tetap dan tempat tinggal tetap dari Migran, yang didukung pula oleh penjamin (pimpinan perusahaan tempat bekerja, orang tua / wali, dosen pembimbing, dll).

Kebijakan seperti ini telah banyak dipraktekkan di negara maju seperti Jepang, dan mulai banyak diadopsi oleh negara-negara berkembang termasuk Indonesia. Di Indonesia sendiri baru Kota Balikpapan yang dapat dikatakan berhasil menerapkan kebijakan seperti ini. Di KotaBandung sendiri telah ada pengaturan serupa, namun belum dapat berjalan dengan baik. Dalam perspektif kedepan, kebijakan ini perlu diprioritaskan karena diyakini akan mampu menjadi instrumen yang cukup ampuh untuk mendeteksi penduduk dan pendatang secara lebih akurat. Yang perlu segera dilakukan adalah membuat desain kebijakan sejelas mungkin dan mensosialisasikannya kepada penduduk.

3.      Pengenaan jaminan finansial (semacam retribusi orang asing), sebagai bentuk dis-insentif bagi pendatang.

Ide dasar kebijakan ini adalah bahwa terhadap seorang pendatang baru akan dikenakan “pungutan” untuk membayar sejumlah uang tertentu (misalnya Rp 100 ribu). Jika pendatang tersebut dapat memenuhi kewajiban tertentu (misalnya pekerjaan tetap dan tempat tinggal tetap) maka uang jaminan tersebut akan dikembalikan kepada yang bersangkutan. Namun jika ternyata orang tersebut gagal memenuhi kewajibannya, maka uang jaminan tadi akan masuk ke kas daerah. Aturan yang cukup “berat” ini diharapkan dapat menghambat atau membatasi arus pendatang masuk ke suatu daerah. Kebijakan seperti ini juga telah lama dipraktekkan di negara maju, seperti Jepang. Jika seseorang akan masuk lembaga pendidikan atau menyewa apartemen, misalnya, selalu dibutuhkan syarat berupa photo copy rekening sebagai bentuk bahwa yang bersangkutan tidak akan menjadi beban bagi orang lain maupun bagi negara.

4.      Mengadakan kerjasama / kesepakatan (MoU) dengan daerah sekitar (sending region).

Kebijakan seperti ini dipandang cukup efektif untuk menghambat laju migrasi antar daerah. Artinya, daerah yang terikat oleh kerjasama tadi dapat memberlakukan persyaratan yang lebih ketat kepada warganya yang ingin berpindah / beralih domisili ke daerah lainnya. Dalam hal ini, ijin mutasi (alih domisili) penduduk hanya dapat diberikan oleh pemerintah daerah asal jika pemohon ijin mutasi tersebut benar-benar memiliki alasan yang kuat untuk pindah ke daerah lain, serta memiliki jaminan pekerjaan di daerah yang dituju. Dengan kata lain, kebijakan pengendalian urbanisasi / migrasi tidak hanya dilakukan oleh daerah penerima atau daerah tujuan saja, namun juga oleh daerah pengirim atau daerah asal migran yang bersangkutan. Sayangnya, kebijakan ini masih belum diterapkan karena faktor kendala seperti belum jelasnya konsep tentang bentuk kerjasama dan materi / muatan kerjasama. Meskipun demikian, pada masa mendatang kebijakan ini sangat perlu dikembangkan dan diprioritaskan sebagai model kebijakan alternatif penanganan migrasi antar daerah yang makin tidak terelakkan.

5.      Transmigrasi.

Dewasa ini, kebijakan pemindahan penduduk dari wilayah padat ke wilayah lain yang masih relatif kosong nampaknya sudah tidak populer. Padahal secara konseptual, relokasi penduduk ini sangat bermanfaat baik bagi daerah asal maupun daerah tujuan. Kalaupun praktek-praktek transmigrasi selama ini banyak mengalami hambatan, bahkan kegagalan, bukan berarti kebijakan ini harus dihentikan. Yang terpenting adalah membenahi kekurangan-kekurangan yang ada namun tetap melanjutkan upaya ini. Dalam konteks kebijakan transmigrasi ini, Kota Bogor sudah menuangkan kedalam Rencana Strategi 2005-2009, dengan target 25 KK/tahun pada 2005 dan 2006, serta 30 KK/tahun mulai 2007 hingga 2009.

6.      Pengembalian migran ke daerah asal (dalam hal-hal tertentu sesuai aturan).

Kebijakan ini juga layak untuk dikembangkan, dengan beberapa upaya persiapan tertentu. Upaya yang diperlukan antara lain adalah penyusunan landasan hukum yang matang, pemberian pelatihan atau bekal keterampilan kepada pendatang yang akan dipulangkan, serta mekanisme pemulangan itu sendiri. Selain itu, perlu pula dikaji beberapa hal masih yang menyangkut sistem penjaringan pendatang yang akan dikembalikan, kriteria atau persyaratan yang harus dipenuhi untuk mengembalikan pendatang ke daerah asalnya, serta issu HAM (hak asasi manusia).

7.      Kebijakan-kebijakan pendukung (supporting efforts) lain seperti pembangunan pedesaan / growth pole dan pemberdayaan masyarakat pedesaan, peningkatan sarana fisik pedesaan maupun perkotaan, diversifikasi usaha tani, penguatan kelembagaan masyarakat pedesaan (P3A, LMD, LSM, Pos Pembantu KB Desa), dan sebagainya.

Kebijakan diatas pada hakekatnya adalah kebijakan yang berfungsi sebagai penunjang bagi kebijakan lain yang lebih substantif. Itulah sebabnya, kebijakan ini tidak mungkin berkontribusi langsung mengatasi masalah kependudukan (termasuk urbanisasi). Meskipun demikian, harus disadari bahwa efektifnya suatu program dan/atau kebijakan, tidak dapat dilaksanakan secara parsial, namun harus komprehensif. Demikian pula dalam bidang kependudukan (khususnya masalah urbanisasi), berbagai kebijakan yang ada baik administratif maupun non-administratif, tidak banyak dampaknya terhadap laju pertumbuhan penduduk serta kondisi umum kependudukan yang tertib dan terkendali. Oleh karena itu, berbagai kebijakan tadi harus dijalankan secara simultan dan komprehensif.

Catatan Penutup

Ditengah-tengah permasalahan kompleks dan multidimensional di bidang pemerintahan dan kemasyarakatan, kebijakan publik harus didesain secara multidimensional pula. Dalam bidang kependudukan pada umumnya dan urbanisasi pada khususnya, pendekatan lintas disiplin dan lintas sektor perlu ditempuh untuk mendapatkan hasil optimal. Dalam hubungan ini, terdapat 3 (tiga) upaya yang secara sinergis dapat dipandang sebagai kebijakan yang komprehensif dalam mengatasi masalah kependudukan, yakni: 1) intensifikasi kebijakan yang telah ada dan telah dilaksanakan seperti operasi yustisi, pelayanan administrasi kependudukan, serta pembangunan prasarana fisik pedesaan dan pengembangan masyarakatnya; 2) memperkuat dan mempercepat kebijakan yang sedang dirintis seperti pemberlakuan SIAK, implementasi Kawasan Andalan Jawa Barat, program transmigrasi, dan persyaratan jaminan bagi pendatang; serta 3) mensosialisasikan dan mengkaji sematang mungkin kebijakan baru yang bersifat terobosan seperti pengembalian migran ke daerah asal, penggalangan kerjasama / kesepakatan dengan daerah lain, dan sebagainya.

Dengan pendekatan yang sinergis tadi, diharapkan mobilitas penduduk di Jawa Barat dapat terkendali dan membawa manfaat positif, bukan sebaliknya sebagaimana kondisi saat ini. Dengan kata lain, mobilitas penduduk akan menjadi modal dan faktor penunjang (stimulating factors) bagi proses pembangunan, dan bukan faktor penghambat (impediment factors).

Daftar Pustaka                                                                   

BPS Jawa Barat, 2000, Karakteristik Penduduk Jawa Barat Hasil Sensus Penduduk 2000, Bandung.

Dwitjahyono, Anggoro, 2004, Pola Umur Migran Propinsi Jawa Barat Menggunakan Model Migrasi Skedul Hasil Sensus Penduduk 2000, usulan penelitian pada Program Pascasarjana IPB.

Hendrizal, 2004, “Problem Arus Urbanisasi”, dalam Sinar Harapan, 25 Nopember. Tersedia online di http://www.sinarharapan.co.id/berita/0411/25/opi02.html

Setiawan, Nugraha, 2004, “Penduduk Kabupaten/Kota Jawa Barat: Proyeksi Tahun 2005”, dalam Jurnal Kependudukan Padjadjaran, Vol. 6, No. 2, Juli, hal. 140-162.

Tjiptoherijanto, Prijono, 1999, “Mobilitas Penduduk Sebagai Penggerak Otonomi Daerah“, dalam Jurnal Kependudukan Padjadjaran, Vol. 1, No. 1, Januari, hal. 1-28.

Utomo, Tri Widodo W., 2003, “Does Moving Capital Matter for Reducing Developmental Complexities in A State Capital (Jakarta Case)”, dalam Jurnal Wacana Kinerja, Vol. 6, No. 4, Desember, hal. 19-26. 

Artikel ini pernah dimuat dalam Jurnal Kependudukan, Vol. 7 No. 1, Januari 2005, hal. 41-56, Bandung: Pusat Penelitian Kependudukan Universitas Padjadjaran (ISSN 0125-9652; Akreditasi No. 52/DIKTI/Kep/ 2002).

Does Inequality Matter for Poverty Reduction?

Abstract:

This paper examines the importance of (in) equality in reducing poverty from two different viewpoints. World Bank in its annual report argues that inequality does not really matter for alleviating poverty as long as some specific requirements are met. On the contrary, Robert Wade and Simon Maxwell emphasizes that inequality will complicate policies and efforts to combat poverty. In other words, inequality should be simultaneously minimized to achieve the best performance of poverty reduction program and policies. Based on those two arguments, I will take my side to conclude this paper.

World Bank: Inequality Does Not Matter For Poverty Reduction

In the World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty (hereinafter is referred as to WDR) particularly chapter 3, World Bank discusses three variables: growth, inequality, and poverty. Those three variables are interrelated each other. Firstly, WDR believes that ‘as countries become richer, on average the incidence of income poverty falls’. It also means that in general, the wealthier a country, the lower the incidence of poverty. For this reason, economic growth is a powerful force for poverty reduction (p. 45). Secondly, WDR is forceful in stating that there is no systematic relationship between growth and income inequality, and, therefore, the impact of growth on reducing poverty varies across countries (p. 52). Thirdly, and the most importantly, WDR claims that not every increase in income inequality should be seen as a negative outcome (p. 52). As economies develop, income inequality can rise because the labor force shifts from agriculture to more productive activities such as industry and service sectors. The above relationship can be deeply elaborated more as follows:

1. The Importance of Economic Growth on Poverty Reduction

According to WDR, since high economic growth will conceivably lead a country to be richer, it constitutes one of key ways to reduce poverty. However, two basic questions need to be clarified. First, what causes economic growth and second, why countries with similar rates of economic growth can have very different rates of poverty reduction?

For the first question, WDR deems that growth depends on education and life expectancy, particularly at lower incomes. There is some evidence that female literacy and girls’ education are good for overall economic growth. In addition, rapid population growth is negatively associated with per capita GDP growth and that the changing age structure of the population can affect growth. Apart of these, some economic policies such as openness to international trade, sound monetary and fiscal policies, a moderately sized government and aid policies are also strongly conducive to economic growth. Other exogenous factors such as ethnic fragmentation, geography, environmental degradation, and initial incomes, matter as well for poverty reduction.

Meanwhile, for answering the second question WDR identifies a complex set of interaction among policies, institutions, history and geography as the determinant factor in producing patterns of growth, changes in distribution of income and opportunities, and rates of poverty in a country. To support this idea, WDR shows data on education and health indicators, which are much better in rich countries. In short, WDR avows that as income rise, health and education indicators as well as people consumption will automatically improved.

To conclude, WDR highlights the importance of economic growth for improving the income of poor people and for moving people out of poverty. Conversely, low or negative growth can have a devastating impact on poor people (p. 47).

2. Insignificant Relation of Growth and Income Inequality

WDR admits that for the same growth rate in per capita consumption, there can be large variation or differences in poverty reduction. Income distribution is the answer for these differences. It implies that for a given rate of growth, the extent of poverty reduction depends on how the distribution of income changes with growth and on initial inequalities in income, assets, and access to opportunity that allow poor people to share in growth. More concretely, if economic growth is accompanied by an increase in the share of income earned by the poorest, incomes of poor people will rise faster than average incomes. In Uganda, for example, growth with rising equality delivered strong poverty reduction, while in Bangladesh rising inequality tempered the poverty reduction from growth.

Although equal distribution of income is seen as important, WDR affirms that there is no systematic relationship across countries between growth and income inequality such as Gini coefficient. It is implied that the difference of income inequality is caused by the combination of policies and institutions in a certain country rather than by economic growth itself.

Another explanation for the lack of association between growth and inequality is that countries with similar overall growth rates could experience very different changes in income distribution because of differences in the regional and sectoral composition of growth. If poor people cannot migrate to regions where socioeconomic opportunities are expanding, growth can lead to rising inequality. Similarly, if growth is concentrated in sectors from which poor people are more likely to derive their income, growth will be associated with declining income inequality.

3. Income Inequality is not always a Negative Outcome

WDR undoubtedly considers that the increasing trend of income inequality should not be seen as negative as long as the following four preconditions are satisfied.

• The income at the bottom rise or at least do not fall.
• The development process expands opportunities for all.
• The observed trends are not the result of dysfunctional forces such as discrimination.
• The number of poor people falls.

Empirically, WDR argues that as economies develop, income inequality can rise because the labor force shifts from agriculture to more productive activities. For instance, if wages are lower in agriculture than in industry and services and the labor forces shift towards those two sectors, then inequality will increase despite an overall decline in poverty. To strengthen its idea, even WDR refers to early thinking on the effects of inequality on growth, which suggests that greater inequality might be good for growth. This view implies a tradeoff: more growth could be bought for the price of more inequality, with ambiguous effects on poor people. However, in a more recent thinking, WDR considers that lower inequality can increase efficiency and economic growth through a variety of channels, and, therefore, it can support to poverty reduction.

Maxwell and Robert Wade: Inequality Matters for Poverty Reduction

Contrary to the World Bank opinion, Simon Maxwell and Robert Wade tend to say that both redistribution and (in) equality matter for poverty alleviation. Maxwell specifically criticizes WDR by stating that WDR misses two important arguments on the question of why redistribution matters. The first is about social inclusion, and the second is about rights (p. 335).

Quoting Wilkinson, Maxwell shows that in developed countries differences in death rates are more successfully explained by differences in inequality than by differences in material conditions. It means that although factors such as damp housing and air pollution have direct effects on health, much more important are the health effects of people’s subjective experience of their position in society, whether it makes them feel successful, optimistic, confident, or failures, socially excluded, depressed, economically insecure and desperate. It is called ‘psycho-social’ consequence of inequality and draws clear conclusion about the need for redistribution. The second thing is regarding people’s rights. Although it is true that equality is not a right in the sense that individuals have rights as defined in national and international laws, but a degree of equality is implied by commitments to civil and political liberties and to adequate standard of living.

Similarly, Wade proposes a fact that the global distribution of income is becoming ever more unequal, and this should be a matter of greater concern than it is. In such situation, Wade questions the effectiveness of globalization and market integration into world economy. In fact, it never produced equal world’s income distribution and it has failed to work to the benefit of all (p. 73). This argument contests WDR’s statement that openness to international trade is sound policy to foster economic growth.

Referring to some previous studies, Wade shows that world inequality increased from a Gini coefficient of 62.5 in 1988 to 66.0 in 1993. This is a faster rate of increase of inequality than that experienced within the US and Britain during the 1980s. On average, Gini coefficient increased by about 6% during that period. Furthermore, the share of world income going to the poorest 10% of the world’s population fell by over a quarter, whereas the share of the richest 10% rose by 8%. All data above indicate that the world became much more unequal (p. 75). At the same time, there is another kind of polarization between a zone of peace where economy grows faster, and a zone of turmoil where people find their access to basic necessities are restricted.

Unfortunately, this issue has received little attention within the fields of development studies, international relations and international economics, even from World Bank and IMF. Most prominently, Wade criticizes World Bank and IMF for their judgment that inequality is not seen as negative. They neglect, Wade argues, not only matters of world’s income distribution but also world inflation, world exchange rates, and world interest rates; and, in the case of World Bank, the global environmental issues of the oceans, the atmosphere, and nuclear waste. Wade comes to conclusion that to call these world organizations is misleading. They may be world bodies, but they think in state-centric rather than global ways.

Finally, Wade points out that growing inequality is analogous to global warming. Its effects are diffuse and long-term. Therefore, inequality and poverty cannot be fixed just by providing the poor with welfare and opportunities; it should be done through the changing of larger structures of income and asset distribution. That is why, Wade recommends us to mobilize our governments, the multilateral organizations, and international NGOs to establish as an overarching a more equal world income distribution, and not just fewer people in poverty.

My Respond: Inequality and Poverty are Two Sides of the Same Coin

Personally, I prefer to support Wade’s and Simon’s views. I believe that inequality is the “twin sister” of poverty, so that it must matter for poverty reduction. The relationship between inequality and poverty, for me, is substantially close. On the one hand, I suppose that in a country where inequality is commonplace, poverty cannot be resolved significantly. On the other hand, it might be true that there is an unequal but not poor society, as WDR mentioned. However, it is rather difficult to refuse a claim that there is no poverty without inequality.

Indonesian case could be a good example to illustrate such relationship. Inequality problem in Indonesia is not only about imbalanced distribution of income between the poor and the rich people. It also deals with regional disparity between rural and urban areas, between Java and outer islands, and between western and eastern part of Indonesia. As a result, poverty is mainly concentrated in rural areas, outer islands, and eastern Indonesia. This situation clearly shows that inequality cannot be seen as a positive outcome. In addition, although Indonesia has experienced high economic growth from 1960s until mid of 1990s, poverty remains one of the most crucial dilemmas in national development processes. It is because high growth was never accompanied by even distribution of income among peoples. In other words, growth without reducing inequality demonstrates a failure of economic functions in a region / country. Again, it signifies that inequality matters for poverty alleviation.

Regarding WDR, I am uncertain and suppose that, to some extent, it is quite ambiguous report. We can address some critical points that are open to debate as follows:

1. WDR mentions that growth depends on education and life expectancy, particularly at lower incomes. There is some evidence that female literacy and girls’ education are good for overall economic growth. This outlook is not wrong, but how can a country improve its people’s living standard such as education level and life expectancy without outstanding economic performance. In real situation, it is more accurate that “economic growth is needed to accelerate education, health and other development sectors” rather than the other way round. In other words, high level of literacy and life expectancy is the result of economic growth, not the precondition for growth.

2. WDR tends to simplify the relationship between growth, inequality and poverty. For example, WDR states that growth is a powerful force for poverty reduction. It seems to me that for World Bank, growth is one of intervening objectives to solve poverty problem. That is why growth is seen as the most important and effective way to reduce poverty. In the implementation step, however, government policy plays more crucial role. It is quite common that many developing countries execute many biases in their policy on poverty alleviation. One of the most prominent biases is urban bias as elaborated by Michael Lipton (1977). In this sense, government’s programs and projects on poverty are mostly executed in urban areas so that rural poverty has unsuccessfully been reduced. In such a case, high growth will unable to move people out of poverty.

3. The other simplification is that inequality is merely considered in economic terms, that is, uneven income distribution among rich and poor peoples. In reality, however, such social inequality as access to basic education and health services, is much more severe than economic issues. For sure, low income will restrict poor people to be able to appropriately access both social infrastructures and services. But gap in accessing public utilities is not only caused by difference of income, it is also prompted by other factors such as government’s capacity to build and provide public facilities and services.

Finally, I would say that poverty alleviation policies should be implemented not only in economic or income aspect (non-human strategy), but also in a matter of human development. It requires empowerment, particularly for the poor. The reason why HRD need to be realized is that however well are the poverty alleviation programs without improving people’s capacity, it will be worthless. Therefore, both human-based and non-human-based strategy should be performed simultaneously in order to achieve the best outcomes, that is, reducing people live under poverty line.

I believe that comprehensive strategies will produce stronger effect on reducing poverty as well as diminishing the degree of inequality in a given society or country. It does not necessary mean that economic activities and performances are not important, but poor peoples should be given proper places and roles to determine their faith, future, and life. Otherwise, poor people will always dependent on aids, government, donor countries, and any other social and voluntary groups.

References

Lipton, Michael, 1977, Why Poor People Stay Poor: Urban Bias in World Development, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Maxwell, Simon, 2001, “Innovative and Important, Yes, but also Instrumental and Incomplete: The Treatment of Redistribution in the New ‘New Poverty Agenda’” in Journal of International Development No. 13, p. 331-341
The Economist, 2001, Of Rich and Poor, April 28th.
Wade, Robert, 2001, “Global Inequality: Winners and Losers”, in The Economist, April 28th.
World Bank, 2000, World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty, Washington DC: World Bank, available at http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/wdrpoverty/report/index.htm

Governance and Capacity Building in Local Development Institution: Some Lessons from Khon Kaen Province, Thailand

Abstract:

Sebagai sebuah Negara berkembang, Thailand memiliki banyak kesamaan dengan Indonesia. Namun dalam aspek kebijakan dan kinerja kebijakan, ada beberapa hal yang berbeda, sehingga dapat dijadikan sebagai pelajaran dalam menata kelembagaan dan kebijakan sector publik di Indonesia. Tulisan ini mengkaji beberapa aspek kepemerintahan dan pembangunan kapasitas pada level sub-district di Propinsi Khon Kaen, Thailand, seperti program pelatihan pagi pegawai, isu seputar amalgamasi dan reorganisasi, pendidikan kemasyarakatan, perencanaan pembangunan dan partisipasi rakyat, serta aspek keuangan / finansial. Walaupun masih banyak permasalahan ditemukan, namun masyarakat yang memiliki motivasi tinggi untuk membangun, dan ditunjang oleh kebijakan pemerintah yang efektif, serta lingkungan yang demokratis, akan menjadi jawaban terbaik dalam mengatasi semua persoalan yang mungkin timbul.


Prologue

I am really fortunate for having opportunity to be a member of Overseas Fieldwork Program 2002 held by GSID Nagoya University. I left for Thailand on October 6 and would stay there for around three weeks. What bear in my mind at that time was that either Thailand or OFW program has nothing special; it is merely a place for relaxation and an occasion for pleasure. In addition, Indonesia has similar history, experiences, season, traditions, as well as political and economic policies. Therefore, I did not have strong conviction that I would find something challenging.

As predicted before, this country has plentiful gorgeous cultures and landscapes, coupled with hospitality of the people. From this standpoint, everyone must be attracted to visit it again and again. However, Thailand is not just a fascinating site. It is the fact that Thailand is a developing country with very impressive programs of preserving traditional values, religious belief and indigenous thoughts as its “way of thinking”. Nonetheless, it is also true that modernization is a very commonplace process in all over the regions. In many aspects such as government, education, rural development, and any other aspects, modern approaches have been considered and implemented. In short, Thailand is, undoubtedly, a good model for academic exercise.

This paper examines some governance aspects in the grass root level, and efforts to build capacity for low-level government (sub-district or Tambol). However, some theoretical framework will be served before describing the findings on Thai governance.

Theoretical Review on Governance and Capacity Building

Since the last three decades, there is a shift of concept from “government” to “governance”. This addresses a transformation from conservative style of government to new public management (NPM) movement. The main distinguished feature is that the previous places government to be a “single fighter” in development processes, while the latter requires peoples’ and private sectors’ involvement in overall developmental system. The concept and issue of good governance and democracy (taken together as ‘democratic good governance’) also dominates and becomes confident assertion of official western aid policy (Leftwich, 2000:127).

According to UN ESCAP (2002), governance means the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). Government is one of the actors in governance; other actors involved vary depending on the level of government. In rural areas, for example, other actors may include influential landlords, association of peasant farmers, cooperatives, NGOs, research institutes, religious and other informal leaders, financial institutions, etc. The situation in urban areas as well as in national level is much more complex, which embraces media, lobbyist, international donors, multinational corporations, political parties, and the military as prominent actors.

From the “social-political” perspective, Kooiman (2002: 5) reveals that governance is all those interactive arrangements in which public as well as private actors participate aimed at solving societal problems, or creating societal opportunities, attending to the institutions within which these governance activities take place, and the stimulation of normative debates on the principle underlying all governance activities. In short, (good) governance is characterized by effective, efficient, entrepreneurial and accountable government in conducting and achieving both developmental programs and goals.

In order to produce good governance, capacity of each actors of governance needs to be strengthened or improved. In this sense, UNDP (1998) defines capacity as the ability of individuals and organizations or organizational units to perform functions effectively, efficiently and sustainably. This definition implies that capacity is not a passive state but part of a continuing process and that human resources are central to capacity development. Capacity development itself can be identified as the process by which individuals, groups, organizations, institutions and societies increase their abilities to: 1) perform core functions, solve problems, define and achieve objectives; and 2) understand and deal with their development needs in a broad context and in a sustainable manner (UNDP: 1997).

The term capacity development, capacity building, and institutional development are somewhat interchangeably. GTZ (1999), for instance, prefers to use the term capacity building and believes that it is not defined through the instruments used, but its goal to enhance the capability of people and institutions sustainability to improve their competence and problem-solving capacities.

It means that instruments, tools, or methods are not the key factors in capacity building program. Instead, the process of individual and group capacity building by which an organization might be able to show the best performance is the most important part of capacity building program. Similarly, Brown (et.al., 2001: 5) insists that in general terms, capacity building is a process or activity that improves the ability of a person or entity to carry out stated objectives. In practice, however, capacity building is often equated with strengthening the organizations and the people that enable services to be delivered effectively and continuously through the execution of different functions.

Basically, all definitions above highlighted at least in three aspects as follows: 1) capacity building is a process; 2) that process should be carried out at three different levels: individual, institutional/organizational, and system; and 3) that process is done to ensure organization sustainability through an objective achievement. It means that indicators functioned as a tool of measurement / assessment is completely needed.

Training and Decentralized Participatory Governance: Twinning Methods for Building Capacity

As mentioned above, strengthening organization and enabling people is extremely essential to realize community development goals. In other words, effective and efficient organization and high competence people will lead to high capacity of a society or a country. Therefore, human resource should be developed and organization should be strengthened if capacity is to be well fashioned. In this case, good training program and high-decentralized governance are two major factors which determine the successful of building capacity. In line with this statement, Grindle (no year) presents that there are three dimensions or strategies of capacity building initiatives i.e. human resource development, organizational strengthening, and institutional reform.

Good Governance and Community Development: Context of Khon Kaen Province

It is unquestionable that people’s participation in the development is totally essential. Principally, the level of participation in development process has two main functions and implications. Firstly, it can determine the success of economic and social development, and secondly, it shows the quality of democracy in a society or country.

From the developmental perspective, the role and responsibility in development should be shared or distributed among the actors of development. The idea is that government is utterly unable to conduct all of things due to its limitation in the field of human resources, budgets, and infrastructures. The “one man show” approach, which gives government the biggest and dominant role in both societal and business activities, therefore, should be avoided.

On the other hand, participation constitutes one of the most important characteristics of either good governance or democratic state. It is not to say that the other features such as accountability, rule of law, and openness / transparency, are not important. Rather, comparing to other three factors, participation is a factor that directly connected to the attempt in empowering peoples. Basically, it is realistic to say that the higher people’s participation in the development, the better democracy in a society will be.

Based on those reasons, the awareness of local government to encourage people’s participation is a worthy thing. In the context of Thailand as a developing country, the local governments at the grass root level usually have legal basis that provides that people’s participation should be promoted. This legal base is laid on TAO Act 1999 (Art. 16 Sec. 2). Surely, there are so many tasks or functions that TAO have, but again, due to the very importance of people in development, this function needs to be highly prioritized.

In the case of Kud Nam Sai TAO in Khon Kaen Province, most of the populations are engaged in agricultural sector (Lekuthai, 2002). Based on this, it could be easily imagined that the main feature of this TAO is rural area. Because of this feature, it is logical that participation should be focused on the effort of rural development promotion. In this case, rural development could only be accomplished through the synergy of role from the three actors in that region: local (TAO) government, local peoples, and private business. The synergy and mutual relationship between those actors reflects the implementation of good governance concept in rural development.

Unfortunately, the role each actor is not very well accomplished yet. For instance, the planning and administrative capabilities of TAO personnel are not efficient, while the community participation in the development is not so active. At the same time, the private business sector plays very little role in the community development. These problems are very serious, that likely cause the deceleration of rural development. That is why, in order to minimize the problems and to endorse the rural development, broadening and strengthening the participation from rural community as well as private business, is really a strategic option.

So far, the local government remains the main actor which has, at least, three roles as following: 1) financing and subsidizing various social groups and activities, 2) providing and maintaining public utilities (both physical and social infrastructure), and 3) improving HRD through training provision. Private business has only one role, contributing to local revenue through tax paying. It is ironic that from preliminary study, peoples have no significant role or participation in the development.

In the future, the major agenda in promoting rural development is balancing the role of local government, local peoples, and the private business. Hypothetically, if the government’s roles are bigger than the rural peoples’ and the private businesses’, it can be judged that they reflect an authoritarian undemocratic regime, or the implement centralized governance system. And if the government’s roles are smaller than or equal to the rural peoples’ and the private businesses’, they realize the principle of participatory / devolved governance, and they constitute a democratic regime.

Findings on Governance and Capacity Building in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand

Training for Civil Servant

There are two types of training for TAO government officers, those are, training for those in elected position (President of TAO) and training for appointed positions (permanent staff). Both training sessions are set up by Department of Local Administration (DOLA). In this case, DOLA plays an essential role in designing the type of training, formulating curriculum, appointing participants, evaluating results of training, as well as allocating budget for training programs.

1. For elected position: Training on Leadership and Management.
2. For permanent staffs: Functional and Technical Training based on the specialties and responsibilities of a certain position.
• Chief of Finance Section : Training on Accounting.
• Chief of Public Works Section : Training on Planning or other aspects of public works.
• Chief of Staff : Legal Training.

There are two main problems concerning training system. First of all, there is no clear regulation concerning the length of training and when it should be provided to someone after occupying a certain position / job. Decision to send participant to training is based merely on the idea that it is considered as important and beneficial, and therefore, a staff should attend a training program. This phenomenon does not support the basic theory of training that systematic training program will notably contribute to the higher capability of human resources.

The other problem is that although TAO may organize its own training programs, but barely it is willing to do so. There are two reasons of this. First, the number of staff in TAO is quite low so that it will be inefficient to conduct training independently. In addition, the budget provided per year is very low (around 50,000 baht) so that it should be spent effectively. The other reason is that TAO relatively depends on Central / Province government in terms of trainers. That is why, TAO’s role in improving human resources through training is not so significant.

In order to optimize the training system, the following strategies need to be considered and implemented:

• Central Government or Provincial Government (DOLA) should formulate a clear regulation on Training for Government Employees. This regulation should cover dimensions of training such as appropriate type of training for each position, length of training session, and timing: when or how often training should be provided for each position. This regulation should also guarantee that all government officers have a right to be trained, that proper budget and facilities of training are provided, and that of training assessment is properly implemented.
• TAO government should take initiative to form an official agreement to cooperate with neighboring TAO`s in order to conduct joint training programs. This method of training management will lead to a more effective program (reduced cost, increased sharing of ideas and experiences among participants) so that TAO’s dependency on Central Government or DOLA will decrease.
• The Central Government needs to launch a set of policies on “Decentralization of Human Resources” to local authorities, especially at the TAO level. With this reform TAO will have greater authority and freedom to formulate and implement policies on human resources development, not only in training programs, but also in other aspects of human development such as recruitment, job placement, positional appointment, salary, etc.

Issue on Amalgamation and Reorganization

In governance aspect, a very obvious futuristic strategy formulated is amalgamation of local authorities. According to Sub-article 4 of Article 41 Amalgamation Law, “any TAO which has a population less than 2,000 people, and has administrative problems that hinder its ability to perform public services with efficiency, shall be dissolved by the Interior Ministry, and be merged with another adjacent local authority within the same district, as indicated by the local residents’ preference. This amalgamation process has to be completed within 90 days from the day such causes had occurred”.

The issue of amalgamation unusually takes place in developing countries, but does in Thailand. Learning from success story of Japan in conducting amalgamation, Thai government has tried to improve the efficiency of public sector through integrating some TAO (Tambol Administrative Organization) into one unit of autonomous local government. The goal is to tackle areas of administrative overlap between the provincial administration, municipalities, and TAOs. The “merger and acquisition approach will cut the number of municipalities and TAOs nationwide to around 5,000 from the total 7,498 at present (Bangkok Post, Oct. 3, 2002)

For sure, some positions will disappear as a consequence of the downsizing policy, but the reason of efficacy nullify the need to simply distribute powers among officers or elites.

Education Development

Education is another interesting case. It is quite astonishing that education decentralization is not a new concern in Waeng Yai District. The curriculum of Ban Don Joad School consists of 80% of national standard with 20% of local content. Based on this system, the school managers have designed some practical knowledge or applied science such as chicken and pond fish raising, mushroom production, and any other agricultural commodities cultivation.

As a result, people who graduate from the school are expected to have appropriate ability to optimize the farmland use or livestock operation. From a broader perspective (macro-economy), it can be affirmed that both the country and the society build the national economy based on comparative advantages, which are already existed around them. This short picture implies the role of education on the economic growth.

Development Planning and Public Participation

Tambol government has two types of development planning, those are, five years plan and annual plan. In formulating such plan, TOA conducts two activities:
1. Distributes questionnaire to all households (around 7,000) in the Tambol, which is aimed to detect basic needs of the people.
2. From academic aspect, TAO discusses and consults with experts from university and informal leader, including monk and private sector.

The development plan is mainly focused on fulfillment of basic needs such as health, sanitary and public infrastructures. However, some empirical data indicate that the construction of infrastructure is more prioritized than the development of social sector. Public infrastructures in Tambol Kud Nam Sai, for example, are very well provided as indicated by mostly paved village roads and constructed electricity networks. Although the benefit of physical-oriented development is under debate, Tambol governments in Nam Phong District have their own reason. By building good infrastructure, they argue, farmers may access their land easily, so that the agricultural productivity could be improved significantly and, in turn, farmers’ living standard would accelerate automatically.

In Thailand, it is very obvious that the King has determinant role in formulating the development planning. Generally, the basic idea and content of national planning comes from King’s guidance. In turn, TAO’s plan should be formulated in line with the plan of higher governmental level: district, province, or national level. In doing so, local government will always distributes questionnaire to all citizens to obtain the need, hope and vision of people. Surely, it constitutes the other uniqueness of Thailand: total obedience of people to the King in a very democratic atmosphere.

The basic problem in development planning is that TAO government focuses its priority highly on the physical infrastructure development, and gives less attention to the human capital enhancement. As a result, most of roads in the village have been well paved while electricity network has reached farming area. But the level of education and other indicators of human development index are still low.

Referring to the above problem, then the development plan should incorporate the vision in the future (long-term goals). Five years plan and annual plan should be functioned as mission and program, respectively, to the future vision. Without vision, mission and program may solve only the short-term problems, but may not able to realize the dream of future. In other words, there is a missing link between the ideal features in the future and the activities done in the present. And the function of vision is to omit such missing link.

Financial Aspect

The main source of income for TAO government is taxes. There are some types of Tambol taxes, such as land tax (used by farmers), advertisement tax, factory / commercial activities tax, and taxes from other activities that produce dust or pollution. The other types of taxes belong to higher level of government. For example, transfer land tax is district tax; forest tax belongs to province government; and whisky / alcohol / tobacco tax, and vehicle tax belongs to central government.

Taxes collected from Tambol’s tax can only fulfill 20% of total TAO’s budget. It is insufficient to finance TAO’s activities, so that it needs subsidy from central government. Therefore, the composition of budget / revenue of TAO is local taxes (20%), central government’s subsidy (60%), and special subsidies (20%).

The main difficulties encountered by TAO in financial aspect are:
• The financial capacity of TAO is low to accomplish its functions and authorities optimally.
• There are some delays of disbursement in the beginning of fiscal years (usually in the first three months). In other words, TAO cannot use its budget instantly due to red-tape bureaucracy.

In order to deal effectively with such obstacles, sources of taxes and fees need to be diversified. In addition, the policy of tax reduction and tax exemption needs to be adjusted through the comprehensive studies. It is also necessary that Central Government should launch a set of policy on “Fiscal Decentralization”. This policy should contain rearrangement of tax proportion between central and local government. At the same time, it should legalize local governments to strengthen their financial capacity through the implementation of some activities such as establishing AOE and TOE (Ampher and Tambol Owned Enterprises), building cooperation or agreement with financial institution both domestic and international to get developmental aids, etc.

Concluding Remark

There are so many other specific and appealing features in this country. However, it does not mean that there is no problem encountered. Prof. Lekuthai (2002) identifies seven problem areas in Khon Kaen Province, those are, economic, social, infrastructure, labor and social welfare, natural resources, human resources, and city planning problems. In this sense, the question is not why there are so many problems in a society, but how does the society deal with their daily problems. In the context of Thailand, motivated people, effective policy of government, and democratic environment would be the best formula to solve all difficulties they might have. In addition, the traditional values combined with modern approach of development promises a better future for both the country and the society.

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