YOGYAKARTA - Infrastructure is very important in order to provide services to support economic development and improve quality of life. However, infrastructure development in regions today tends to be mostly done solely for the benefit of the project orientation and build image of the incumbent ahead of regional elections.
"Infrastructure is still the goal of politicians, for example incumbent candidates will build infrastructure ahead of the election. Whereas, building infrastructure needs big investment. Therefore, the cost of infrastructure construction is high but people remain poor," Head of Infrastructure Management and Community Development Studies Program, Graduate School of Universitas Gadjah Mada told reporters at an international seminar with the theme of New Approach to Infrastructure Management to the Public on Thursday (28/4).
According to Sunyoto, to enhance provision of infrastructure in the regions will require a paradigm change in community-based infrastructure development. However, the change is supported by academic and professional discussions in which the physical infrastructure is more viewed as a system that provides the physical facilities and related services to meet the social and economic needs. "Infrastructure management is very important, so that it needs infrastructure manager. So, the infrastructure is not only related to technical problems," he said.
As other countries in Asia, Indonesia has the infrastructure market which grows rapidly. Up to year 2009, the need for investment in new infrastructure is estimated amounting 613 trillion rupiah. So it takes much human resources in the infrastructure sector. "It is estimated that every year Indonesia needs about 1,200 qualified professionals," he said.
Director of Housing and Settlements of NationalDevelopment Planning Agency, Eko Purwanto, SE, MPP, agreed that infrastructure development not only includes technical issues but also deals with economic, political and social issues. "It's important how to build infrastructure with minimal cost with the results as efficient as possible," he said.