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SOVEREIGNTY THREATENED BY DONOR INTERVENTION
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INFIDS STATEMENT
THE IRONY OF INDONESIAS 65 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE,
SOVEREIGNTY THREATENED BY DONOR INTERVENTION
A few days left before Indonesia commemorates its 65 years of
independence. Amidst a
multidimensional crisis that continues to plight Indonesia,
among others mounting foreign debt,
unrelenting high rates of poverty, unbridled corruption and the
plundering of natural resources,
the countrys spirit of independence and sovereignty should be
able to lift it out of this
multifaceted crisis.
It is ironic however, that as Indonesia approaches 65 years of
self-rule, the nation is shorn of its
independence and sovereignty due to the World Banks intervention
in the administration of the
country. This week, the World Bank has warned several districts
and municipalities in West
Nusa Tenggara Province on having failed to establish the
Extension Implementing Agency
(Bappeluh). (The World Bank Tells Off Districts for Not
Establishing Bappeluh, ANTARA,
11 August 2010).
The establishment of Bappeluh is one of the requirements imposed
by the World Bank on
districts and municipalities implementing the Farmer Empowerment
through Agricultural
Technology and Information (FEATI) program. Another requirement
which the Indonesian
government must meet is to prepare counterpart funds worth USD
30.8 million through the
national and local budgets. FEATI is the World Banks loan to the
Indonesian government
amounting USD 92.8 million entered into through an agreement
signed on 28 March 2007.
With regard to this, INFID asserts that the World Banks
reprimand of districts and
municipalities which have failed to set up the Bappeluh proves
to demonstrate World Banks
arrogance as a donor agency in implementing its programs in
Indonesia. The Paris Declaration
on Development Effectiveness plainly states that donors commit
to respect country leadership
and help strengthen their capacity to exercise it/ownership.
In the Jakarta Commitment signed by the World Bank, it is also
stated that development
partners will align themselves more fully with Government
programs and systems.
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SOVEREIGNTY THREATENED BY DONOR INTERVENTION
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Development partners will align their programming cycles with
those of government, use the
government format for reporting their assistance, and
increasingly use the governments financial
management and procurement system. When they do not make use of
systems, development
partners will transparently state their rationale for not using
government systems and
indicate how they will work with the Government (including
through capacity
development) to align in the future. In the spirit of
partnership, we will also encourage
development partners to fully, sincerely and transparently untie
their aid.
In view of this, the World Banks move is clearly in
contradiction with the Paris Declaration and
the Jakarta Commitment, and is a form of donor intervention on
Indonesias development
sovereignty.
The World Banks intervention on the development sovereignty of
Indonesia is not merely
confined to program implementation but also on the development
goal itself. As the second
largest creditor among multilateral financial institutions after
ADB in Indonesia, the World Bank
provides loans for several sectors including agriculture.
An INFID study on several projects and programs financed through
World Bank loans has
revealed that these agendas have failed to bring about any
positive development impact but
instead have become an increasingly burdensome debt. INFIDs
research on PNPM (National
Program on Community Empowerment) has shown that the program
focuses more on physical
development while disregarding the social capital put together
by the community. PNPM has
instead shattered the collective values emerging from and shared
among members of society.
This also holds true for the Jakarta Emergency Dredging
Initiative (JEDI) financed by loans for
the dredging of 13 rivers in Jakarta. INFIDs research yet again
found that JEDI is ineffective in
solving the flooding problems and has imposed a heavier foreign
debt burden on the government
of Indonesia as the effect of river dredging will only lasts for
a maximum of five years whereas
the government must repay the loans for a span of ten years.
Bearing this in mind, INFID urges the government of Indonesia to
desist from bowing to the
one-sided wishes of the World Bank and other donors which
clearly pose a threat to Indonesias
political and economic sovereignty. INFID also insists that the
World Bank ceases all forms of
policy interventions that interfere with Indonesias political
and economic sovereignty.
