Saturday 29 November 2008

OPTIMISING THE ROLE OF THE STATE GOVERNANCE OF DEVELOPING NATIONS IN PROMOTING THE FIFTH KONDRATIEFF WAVE UPSWING

By Herman Seran

Introduction
Based on circular – cumulative – causative (CCC) principle, proposed by socio-political economists, agents involve in global economy are interdependent. Promoting specific sectors while undermining the rests is, therefore, prone to failure. Hence, global economic problems should be addressed through holistic and integrative policies and strategies. As a matter of fact, they argue that the negative side of the economic development should be treated as inextricable results of economic development, not as externalities suggested by liberalism economists.
Even though the current stage of the global economy is dominated by free market principles, to some extent, the interventions of governments still exist (Ricupero, 1997). Nevertheless, many challenge the effectiveness of their involvements (Boettke & Leeson (2004), Hertel, (2003)). Hesitation over governments’ ability has reasonable ground, in particular concerning those in developing nations. Given the current state of affairs, the question is then: are these governments able to promote the fifth global economic upswing? To clarify the above issue, the following questions need to be considered furthermore. Do governments have adequate knowledge to provide effective policies? Do politicians and public servants have reasonable motivations or incentives to serve public interests? Do governments obtain adequate legitimacy to act on public behalf? Lastly, do the current global economic and political structures enable governments to perform their role independently? The first two questions are classic problems regarding government interventions, which have been disputed for a long time. The last questions are specifically related to governments in the developing nations.
This paper aims to consider state governance issues, concentrating on the governments in the developing nations, since these nations have relatively abundant resources, yet underdeveloped. Economically, developing nations are left behind by advance economies; accordingly, being a part of the next long wave upswing is a great opportunity to the citizens. In order to build theoretical ground, the discussion, firstly, draws attention to the Kondratieff cycle or wave, followed by further discussion on the failure of neo-liberalism economy and alternative from post-Keynesian economists including the role of states governance. Next discussion is dedicated to the problems regarding developing nations’ governments in promoting the fifth long wave upswing, then recommendations to these governments to promote the long wave upswing. Conclusion follows.

Kondratieff Wave
Kondratieff wave is a phenomenon of regularities observed in the global economy. Economic historians reveal that the global economy experiences certain cycles of boom and bust. More precisely they are similar to wave pattern, which involving upswing when the economy is flourished, and downswing when it experiences recessions. The economists can also predict the relative timeframes for these economic cycles. There are four economic cycles identified in the global economic history. They include Kitchin inventory cycle (3– 5 years), Juglar fixed investment cycle (7 – 11 years), Kuznets infrastructural investment cycle (15 – 25 years), and Kondratieff wave (45–60 years) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_cycle). These cycles, help the economists to construct better economic models, and guide the policy making (Reati & Toporowski, 2004). Socio-political economists normally base their economic thoughts on the Kondratieff long wave as it involves longer duration.
The Kondratieff long wave was suggested by Nikolai Kondratieff, springing from a Marxian perspective of long run movement of capitalism (Reita & Toporowski, 2004). There have been five Kondratieff long waves during the course of global industrialization (O’Hara, 2006a). First long wave, known as industrial revolution, underwent upswing in 1780s – 1810s and downswing from that on to 1840s. This wave was defined by water-powered machineries, and dominated by cotton, iron ore, and coal related industries. The next wave was large-scale industry (1850s – 1870s/ 1870s – 1890s) distinguished by steam-powered machineries and the introduction of telegraphs, railways and steamships. The third wave, finance capital and imperialism wave, (1890s – 1910s/1910s – 1940s) where steel, copper, and metal alloys was the main inputs in electrified industry, heavy engineering / chemicals and steel products. The fourth wave is known as postwar global fordism (1940s – 1970s/ 1970s – 1990s). This period was marked by internal combustion engines and mass production with the main inputs was oil, gas, and synthetic materials. The fifth wave is still a dispute among the scholars, yet it is believed that now world in the fifth long wave swing. Globalization and internet revolution are the markers for the fifth Kondratieff long wave (see O’Hara, 2006a and Reati & Toporowski, 2004).

Criticisms on the Neo-liberalism Economy
Despite plausible achievements, the neo-liberalism economy has been blamed for triggering global economic recession during 1980s – 2000s. Neo-liberalism, which rather concentrating on economic process than economic growth, has escalated global system imbalances and marginalized the functions of institutions. O’Hara (2005) summarizes the critics on the neo-liberalism economy as follows:
“…heterodox economists argue that the globalised neo-liberalism creates too many negative externalities, and also that it has a negative overall impact upon socioeconomic performance. They tend to see the 1950s and 1960s as the golden age of the Keynesian –Fordist state when social and economic progress occurred, while the gradual emergence of neo-liberal globalization led to problematic development into 1980s – 2000s. Recent times are said to have seen the emergence of many critical global, regional, and national financial crises, declining trust, deteriorating environmental performance, lower rate of per capita growth, and much slower productivity. Globalised neo-liberalism, therefore, has destroyed more than it has created in that it stimulates quick profit over long run rewards, financial dominance over industry, production rather than habitat preservation, and market over human relations.” (p.348).
Many scholars agree that leaving the global economy driven by the free market without adequate governments’ control is likely to result in the escalation of contradictions, which in turn will destroy the whole society. As further suggested by O’Hara (2006a), political economists reveal a large number of paradoxes or contradictions derived from free market economy. To name a few, focusing on supply side has weakened the demand power, which is equally important. Capitalism promotes capital to the highest position leading to the powerlessness of states and workers, unregulated economy, escalating financial speculations. These problems harm industry sector as the powerhouse of the economy. Profit maximization principle has sacrificed the environment, social relationship, and has further deepened the gap between those in center and periphery. Excessive competition has left almost no space for innovation and profit. These contradictions can be addressed, if there are institutions that work concertedly supporting the global economy, instead of leaving them to the work of ‘invisible hand’ in market oriented economy. For instance, neo-liberalism vis-à-vis free competition is believed to be unsustainable since market forces unrestrictedly mobilize economic resources from society to economic development process (dos Santos & da Silva, 2004). Free market principles have further marginalized the underdeveloped countries due to their inability to compete against the advance economies. Neo-liberalism has deprived the power of states to ensure public goods are sufficiently available and sustainable, including the carrying capacity of the planet earth. Short term profit maximizing, derived from aggravating rent-seeking behavior, and uncertainty, have resulted in excessive competition, lack of incentive for long term investment, and declining profit margin, hence lacking economic growth. The power of capital, which overwhelming labor bargaining power, has led to inadequate labor compensations. This has deteriorated purchasing power and global demand. Financial market speculation has further created uncertainty. These problems affect each other via circular – cumulative – causative ways. These facts lead scholars, such as Quiggin (2005), to argue that the economic liberalism has lost its power in global economy. Therefore, there is increasing demand for an alternative philosophy or ideology that bases the new economic policies and strategies.

Post-Keynesian Solutions and Role of Post-neoliberalism Governments
There are alternatives to cover the weaknesses, or solve the problems resulted from the employment of the economic liberalism. Post-Keynesian or neo-Marxist economists argue that the global economy requires institutions that work simultaneously to maintain the balance of the global economic functions (dos Santos & da Silva, 2004). In other words, the new long wave upswing pragmatically requires continuous combination between socialist strategies and the positive elements of the neo-liberalism ideology. These kinds of pragmatism strategies seem to dominate the magnitude of the future economic policies (Quiggin, 2005).
Post-Keynesians observe that the main problems of the economic recession are lacking global demand and enormous degree of uncertainty. These troubles root in the diminishing role of governments in protecting public interests from the free market invasion, as it mostly focuses on the supply side of the economic system. Therefore, the global economy is calling for the re-establishment of balanced institutions of governments, corporations, market, labor, society, or international relationship. Reati and Toporowski (2004) suggest several solutions to remediate the global economic problems. Firstly, it needs to boost the demand through macroeconomic policies that favoring innovations and promoting private consumption. They also urge to reestablish the primacy of productive capital to secure long term investment and curb the financial speculation. The third suggestion is to promote labor – capital equality, including the encouragement of full employment, adequate rewards and incentives for innovation, and technological improvement. The problem regarding flexibility of the labor force within the current dynamic economy is urged to be solved. They also suggest establishing a proper regime of intellectual rights that provide incentives to inventors and promote the transfer of knowledge and technology.
The above discussion implies that the state governance social structures of accumulation (SSA) are a very critical ingredient in order to make the post-Keynesian strategies work optimally. In conjunction to that, O’Hara (2005) urges post-neoliberalism governments to promote productive government roles and pragmatic policies in conjunction with public finance. The governments need to stimulate long term demand and global recovery, promote financial stability, global currency system, and value addition process to primary goods, continuously improve comparative advantage, and foster pro-social capital (O’Hara, 2005, p356 – 360).
The governments in developing countries, however, are unlikely to implement these policies effectively. The reasons are related to the issues of human resource quality, adequate incentives to serve the public interests, legitimacy or moral justification, and inadequate bargaining power resulted from current global socio-economic structures. These governments require favorable preconditions in order to convey their roles effectively. The following paragraphs take a closer look to problems regarding the ability of governments in developing countries.

Pre-requisite for an optimal state governance performance
Simply considering that governments will be able to serve the interests of the society is biased towards the reality. Boettke & Lesson (2004) when assessing the robustness of liberalism and socialism theories conclude that:
“Robust political economy requires that both the assumptions of agent benevolence and omniscience be relaxed, so that both incentive issues and knowledge problems can be adequately addressed.” (p.99).
Such kind of relaxing the real world conditions is only valid in theoretical level. There will be a real matter if scholars left aside the issue of knowledge, incentive, legitimacy, and autonomy of governments when deciding the best for the society. The above issues should be addressed to promote the effectiveness of governments’ functions. In developed countries, where the democracy has been implemented maturely, such preconditions may not be real concern, as voting power might be able to correct the system. Yet, for the developing countries, who just experiencing ‘trial and error’ with infant democratic system, or even still living in authoritarian regimes, election process is hardly to solve these problems.
Research conducted by the World Bank and other institutions, reveal that there is a strong relationship between good governance and the economic growth (Dollar & Pritchett, 1998), even though the relationship is not clear cut (Abdellatif, 2003). These scholars further argue that good macroeconomic management is a pre-requisite for economic growth. Accordingly, the issues of knowledge, motivation, and barrier to act on public behalf are significantly important when discussing governments’ roles in supporting the fifth long wave upswing. The countries like Botswana and Thailand who have good economic management reveal higher per capita growth than those that poorly managed. Dollar and Pritchett (1998) show that poor countries have potential for rapid growth if there are good managerial skills available. Therefore, it is crucial to clarify how these concerns obstruct these governments to play important roles in the next long wave upswing.

Knowledge
Knowledge is the first obstacle hampering the capability of the governments to conduct their role in providing the best alternative to support the society. Without adequate knowledge and information, these governments would not be able to decide, what are strategies and policies that can effectively curb their economic problems. As a matter of fact, the problem of lack of knowledge, in addition to other capacity constraints, has become the main hindrance for governance in developing nations. This concern has been realized by developed nations and international communities. It is proven by their supports in education programs, especially for the public servants from developing nations. Additionally, Brooks and Davidson (2002) in assessing the causes of the East Asian crisis, identify skilled labor shortages and ineffective policy setting as parts of primary and secondary supply-side constraints. Van den Berg (2001), as quoted in Brooks and Davidson (2002), reveals that developing nations’ average university graduates during early 2000s was 1.2 percent of population over twenty five years of age, compared to 21.3 percent of those in developed nations. Assuming these generations are now leading and managing developing countries, one can imagine the degree to which knowledge inadequacy is really impacting. The problem gets even worse, since the brilliant university graduates choose to work for the private institutions, which offering more benefits compared to low paying and bureaucratic career development in public sectors. For example, considerable numbers of government employees from developing countries, who undertake study in developed nations, are reluctant to go back to their home country after finishing study. Hence, issue of brain drain even further restraints the governments’ ability in developing nations. Lacking skills in public sectors leads to the appointment of ‘the wrong man to the wrong place’ which further complicating governance affairs.

Incentive or Motivation
Even if governments having adequate knowledge, what is the incentive for politicians and public servants in developing nations to provide the best service to the society? One may argue that they will lose their jobs through general elections as people vote against them. This is just valid only if the civil society is embraced; vis-à-vis fair democratic processes are applied, not governed by repressive regimes. Nevertheless, considering military coup in Thailand, civil protests related to elections in Mexico and Salomon Island, or authoritarian regimes in China and Singapore, one might think reinforcing governments’ motivation through democracy is a rocky path for developing nations.
Survey conducted by Overseas Development Institute (ODI), on political and governance in sixteen developing countries, reveals that the accountability of the political processes in these countries are very low (Hyde, Court & Mease, 2003). Given score one to five, the average accountability from these nations was just 2.28 or just over 45 percent. For example, the report states that:
“…Most countries do not have ‘recall’ system, which allow the electorate to call for an elected representative’s resignation during his term of service… The issue in many transitional societies, however, is that incumbents often have an advantage over their competitors and can ‘buy’ the support they need to get re-elected…”(Hyde, Court & Mease, 2003, p.24).
The authors, in their survey, also discover the ignorance of public interests by their representatives, such as in Peru, Argentina, Indonesia, and other developing countries. Corruption and political patronage are also real issues deteriorating democratic processes in those nations. Accordingly, democracy is not yet a reliable tool to promote good governance in developing nations.
Another reason, why there is not enough motivation for politicians and governments to work for the interest of their countries, is related to economic problem. Given the condition of lacking law enforcement and public control, public servants tend to abuse their positions for personal gains. Corruption, bribery, and other power abuses are widely encountered in developing nations, which often low payment used for justification. For example, many have objected the abuse of international financial debts that flow to developing nations, as most of them have been spent irresponsibly by governments, including being corrupted and used to increase the public servants’ salaries (Green, 2006).
Power abuses, especially corruption, have been a critical barrier to developing nations to utilize their economic resources effectively. Patrick Tucker (2006) explains the link between corruption and development in developing countries based on USAID report on anticorruption strategy as follows:
“…grand corruption (corruption at the highest governmental levels) may be less immediately visible than corruption among mid-level public officials. But Grand corruption is often more devastating to development because it diverts state institutions, as well as financial and natural resources, in order to meet private and elite goals. Additionally, law enforcement’s attempts to eliminate local power abuse are often crippled by corruption at the highest level.” (p.7).

Legitimacy
The next problem, regarding the role of governments is related to their legitimacy to decide policies and strategies that affect people either within their territory or outside. Group or personal agendas, whether they are legalized by national legislations or international agreements, in many cases are pursued at the costs of other nations or groups. Invasions to other nations that paralyzing local economic socio-economic activities, or the mobilization of resources from other part of nations to satisfy the interests of certain groups under territorial legalities, are the problems that inhibiting resources optimization in supporting the next long wave upswing.
The invasions to Iraq, by the United States and its allies, and to Afghanistan, have destroyed economic activities in these regions. Meanwhile, the decision of China to focus the development in the eastern coast, while leaving those in the west in the name of the economic development strategy, is of question; especially, concerning the rights of those in western regions to enjoy the same level of development or participate equally in economic processes. Or the case of Indonesia, where West Papuans’ natural resources being mobilized to western Indonesia, yet Jakarta refuses the demand for self-determination of those people. These issues are left unsolved. Territorial constraints and other international consensus have left them to the nations themselves to address. Nevertheless, the resources in these regions will not be employed optimally to promote the global upswing if such issues are not addressed.
Large number of political and civil unrests in developing nations, due to human right related problems, has weakened economic development in many developing nations. Stability and security are pre-requisites in promoting both foreign and domestic investments. Indeed, political stability plays important role in East Asian nations’ fast economic growth (Hughes, 1995). Governments in most of African nations, on the other hand, struggle to gain their legitimacy. Yet, the stable countries like Botswana economically are growing very well.

Independency
The current situation of economic and political structures is another problem for governments in developing nations to act independently, even though the problems of omniscience and benevolence are relaxed. Political and economic imbalances among the nations and strong financial power from multinational corporations have put the developing nations in a powerless position to serve their public interests. Developed nations often dictate what the developing nations have to do, especially when it comes to foreign aids or debts. Developing nations, especially those relying on foreign direct investment, are not uncommon securing the multinationals interests, instead of sustainable development interests. Accordingly, independency in policy and strategy implementations is a causative problem derived from global imbalances, which hampering sustainable development of developing nations.
Many developing countries are facing financial problems. Wealthy nations and international institutions, such as World Bank or IMF, normally provide aids and debts to these nations. In many cases, financial supports are equipped with guidelines, which often counter productive or even deteriorating the economic conditions. Good example for this is the IMF policies, which following the funds it provides to the countries that in financial crisis prior to Asian financial crisis. A most recent example is the grievance from non-governmental institutions, since the US allocates a lot of aid to the Afghanistan, yet the projects was designed by the United States and implemented by the US companies.
Multinational companies, given their strong financial power, often diminish the bargaining power of the governments in implementing effective policies or strategies. Revenues obtained from the operations of multinational companies often constitute large portion of the government incomes. In turn, the governments tend to protect the continuity of such sources of wealth, even though at cost of the public interests and unsustainable development. For instance, Indonesian government protects Freeport copper – gold mine in West Papua, regardless the fact that the company polluting the environment with its unpopular tailing disposal system. Further more, some small countries even become footloose in their economic policies due to multinational companies’ domination. As expressed by Swee and Low (1996) when explaining Singaporean’s experience:
“…discretionary policy to promote industries more intensive skills, capital and technology must be appreciated. The ultimate decisions of such industrial policy are, however, set by the multinational corporations (MNCs). The MNCs have the technological capability and access to world market. ... Singapore)* has little choice because technology and product lines are decided by MNCs.” (p.6,) * is added).
In short, governments from developing nations experience a large number of impediments when it comes to playing important roles in promoting the next long wave upswing. Lacking knowledge and motivation of the governments appears to be worsened in these nations compared to developed nations where democracy is working relatively effectively. Meanwhile, territorial and jurisdictional constraints have further left some domestic issues regarding resource efficiency and the right to participate to be solved internally by these governments. The issue of asymmetrical socio-economic-political structures, in terms of power of other nations and multinational companies, has also hampered the autonomy of developing nations in implementing the right policies and strategies even if they have adequate knowledge and integrity to do so. Accordingly, successful post-neoliberalism state governance needs to take into account the problems of the capacity constraints of governments from developing nations.

Boosting the economic development in developing nations
How the economic development in developing nations, especially those with low economic growth can be promoted? In addition to proposals from post-neoliberalism economists or further clarifying them, here are some additional recommendations. Encouraging the participation of the developing nations in the fifth long wave upswing requires both international participation and integral decision making from each nation. International involvements can come in terms of promoting the effective governance, developing human resources and promoting of the basic human rights in developing nations. Governments in developing nations are urged to mobilize the available resources they have, including the human resources and primary products, and promote niche industry based on their dynamic competitive advantage. Standard of living and quality of life should be the main concern of the developing nations in terms of infrastructure development and health, educational improvement.
Good governance is the first requirement to boost the developing nations’ participation in global economy. World Bank considers that the public sector management, accountability, legal frameworks and the accessibility of information should be addressed to promote good governance (Abdellatif, 2003). International community can assist the developing nations in promoting these dimensions. Support for improving the quality of public servants and reliable information can ease some knowledge related constraints. The promotion of justice and human rights through strengthening public control over governments and education can discourage the power abuses from government and politicians in the developing nations. Developing nations should consider good governance as basic requisite to promote sustainable economic growth. The economic crises happened in Indonesia during late nineties as a classic example of fast economic growth built under repressive state governance.
Secondly, human resources development, especially education, should become the main priority to the developing nations. International institutions and developed nations are encouraged to play important role to improve the quality of human resources in developing nations together with the domestic governments. On one hand, well educated citizens will help to boost economic growth domestically; on the other hand, surplus skilled workforces can be employed by nations that facing skilled workers shortages and aging population problems. For example, leaving aside other considerations, skilled workforce shortages in fast growing nations like Australia can be overcome by labor from the Pacific nations if they fulfill the required qualities. On the contrary, large number of nations in this region holds inadequate qualities of human resources that fulfill the requirements. Accordingly, both Australia and its neighbors are worse off.
The next issue is strengthening bargaining position of the governments of developing nations against pressures from international organizations, developed nations, and multinational corporations. A global solution on asymmetrical relationship among social structures of accumulation is strongly recommended for many developing nations are suffering from the related problems. This requires international institutions that continuously reinforcing the issues of accountability and equality of international, multilateral or bilateral, and foreign direct investment by multinational corporation relationships with developing nations. At the same time, governments from developing nations should realize that sustainable development is unlikely to achieve if relying on short term reactions or external pressures instead of comprehensive planning.
The fourth point is infrastructure development, especially transportation and telecommunication infrastructures in remote and underdeveloped regions of developing nations. Vast majority of people in developing nations are living in inadequate infrastructures that inhibiting them from economic and information networks. Such conditions lead to the inefficient employment of the economic resources in these regions. As a matter of fact, the network infrastructures are the effective ways of freeing these regions from isolation and enhancing their participation in such integrated global economy. For example, transportation and communication infrastructures are main considerations for the investors, when deciding to invest in remote regions of developing nations. Primary commodities in developing nations can be exploited and used to develop related industry if transportation and communication infrastructures are available.
The last recommendation to make is regarding the exploitation of comparative advantage. Developing nations are encouraged to optimize economic resources they have to boost their economic development. Referring to the success of the East Asian economic development, many economists such as Hughes (1995) and Krugman (1994) believe that economic resources mobilization is playing important parts in these nations economic development fast economic growth. Regarding comparative advantage, despite the problem of Prebisch-Singer hypothesis, natural resources are the best options to start with as they are location driven investments. The investors have to operate in the area where the natural resources are found. Therefore, promoting foreign direct investment in primary commodity sector is a viable option to the developing nations as their natural resources yet to be developed. Additionally, large number of developing nations experiencing increasing revenues from natural resource sector such as African, Latin American, and Middle Eastern nations (UNCTAD, 2005). Furthermore, niche industry supported by the available primary industry can be developed. Relatively fast developing nations like Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia started of their economic development based on primary commodities (Hughes, 1995).

Conclusion
Moving towards the fifth Kondratieff long wave, many are being bothered whether state governance social structures of accumulation are ready to promote it. As argued by post-neoliberalism economists, economic liberalism in circular – cumulative – causative ways has created large numbers of externalities, including to the establishment of unbalanced functions of institutions including state governance. Accordingly, they propose reestablishment of the power of institutions especially governments. They are urged to undertake important roles in promoting the fifth long wave upswing. The leaders from these nations are recommended to promote productive and pragmatic public financial roles. They are also required to stimulate long term demand and global recovery, promoting financial stability, global currency system, promoting value addition process to primary goods, continuously improving comparative advantage, and fostering pro-social capital.
These proposals are unlikely to be implemented successfully by the governments in developing nations due to the problems of knowledge, motivation, legitimacy, and independency of these governments. Knowledge is the first issue hampering the ability of the governments of developing due to lack of qualified human resources and access to reliable information. These hindrances cause ineffective decision making. Secondly, democracy is hardly to motivate the governments in these nations to serve the interests of their public. Hence, power abuse for personal gains remains critical concern in the developing nations. Thirdly, some governments under national legal frameworks or international agreements undermine the rights of certain groups of people including exploiting their resources without giving back to such regions. It results in human rights violation and economic inefficiency. The last issue is regarding the ability of the developing nations’ governments to act independently without pressure from international institutions, powerful nations and multinational corporations. In many cases, these governments are unable to preserve their autonomy as they relying heavily on these institutions.
In order to incorporate the governments and developing nations to play pivotal roles in promoting long wave economic upswing, here are several issues that need to be dealt with by both international institutions or developed nations and governments from developing nations. Securing the new long wave upswing promotions need to promote good governance in developing nations. Next, human resources development vis-à-vis education should be the main concern. Third proposal is improving the bargaining power of developing nations against international institutions, developed nations, and multinational enterprises, through the promotion of accountability and equality relationships. Transportation and telecommunication infrastructures development are important in order to alleviate the economic resources mobilization and tie up such regions to global economic networks. Primary commodity development is likely to bases the next step of the industrialization in developing countries since natural resources are location driven comparative advantage.

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Wednesday 26 November 2008

THE INDONESIAN OIL AND GAS COMPETITIVENESS

A PORTER’S DIAMOND BASED ANALYSIS
By Herman Seran

Introduction
As of May 2006, the spot price for crude oil in NYMEX has been around US$70 per barrel or almost twice of that in April 2003. This is a fortune for oil production countries. As an oil and gas producer, Indonesia may benefit from this windfall mirroring its experience before the Asian financial crisis. Prior to crisis, the country’s economic development was strongly supported oil and gas booming during 1970s to 1980s (Gylfason, 2001, Susastro, nd, Temple, 2001). Will Indonesia benefit from the current oil booming? This paper aims to address the question by considering the country’s competitive advantage in the industry employing Porter’s Diamond model.Exploring the Indonesian chance to benefit from this current energy booming implies consideration on the advantages of the country to compete in global energy market. The question is, therefore, what are the competitive advantages of Indonesian oil and gas industry to compete globally or at least play significant role in Asia Pacific oil and gas market. Accordingly, the paper approaches this issue by firstly, briefly discussing the Indonesian macroeconomic position with specific consideration on the role of the oil and gas industry. Secondly, the theory of international competitiveness is touched on briefly to contextualize the Porter’s Diamond model. Thirdly, the current condition of the Indonesian oil and gas industry is assessed employing the Porter’s national competitive advantage determinants.

Economic Indicators and the Role of Oil and Gas Industry
Economic Indicator

The Indonesian economy suffered the most from the 1998 financial crisis. The GDP sharply slumped reaching the lowest level since 1966 at nearly -15% (Temple, 2001). However, as well as political reform, the economic growth has steadily reached the pre-crisis level. Asian Development Bank reported that the GDP growth in 2005 was 5.6%, a significant increase from 3.8% in 2001 (ADB, 2006). Meanwhile, fiscal deficit has encouragingly declined below one percent. The outstanding problems are lowering inflation which experienced a bleak trend during the final quarter, boosting the export which has downed to 13% GDP (17% before crisis), and creating jobs for 2.5 million annual increasing labour forces.
The experts predict a slower economic growth in 2006, due to the current domestic situation, and global issues like spiking oil prices and increasing the US interest rate. Indonesian Central Bank predicts the GDP growth in 2006 will range from 5% to 5.7% (BI, 2006). Meanwhile, the Asian development Bank predicts GDP growth will likely be 5.4% (ADB, 2006).

Indonesian Oil and Gas Industry
Petroleum industry has contributed significantly to the Indonesian economy. As of 2004, the country’s oil and gas reserves were predicted to be 4.7 billion barrels and 2.56 trillion cubic-meters (BP, 2005). It has been argued that natural resource endowment underpinning the Indonesian high economic performance during 1966 to 1998 (Gylfason, 2001, Temple, 2001). Hayashi (2005) reveals that petroleum industry significantly shaped the GDP per capita during 1965 to 2000. For instance, World Energy Council predicts the industry represented 66% of total domestic earnings and 76% of export earnings in 1983 (WEC, 2005).
Nevertheless, soaring domestic demand and continuous decline in oil production since 1994 have made the country a net oil importer in 2004, for the first time ever. Yet, this decline was compensated relatively by growing export in natural gas.
There have been various explanations for the decline in production and increase in domestic consumption. Well exhaustion is the main reason for the down trend of the production (Tse, 2001). Meanwhile, lacking exploration and new discovery are the next contributors (ADB, 2006), in addition to socio-political reasons and OPEC’s strategy to boost oil prices. For example, Exxon-Mobil’s gas production in Aceh was disrupted due to the security problem, while old wells’ production in Cepu, Central Java, has significantly declined. When it comes to consumption, the increase in standard of living may be the explanation. Several analysts, including Asian Development Bank, believe that Indonesian long term oil subsidy was the main trigger for strong domestic consumption (ADB, 2006).
By no means to underestimate the exhaustive and cyclical nature of oil and gas, the country will continue to benefit from the industry, in terms of national export, the source of FDI, and economic multiple effect. Decision to remove most of the oil subsidy is believed to lower the domestic consumption. Thus, the trend of investment in the oil and gas sector indicates an encouraging sign, though the conducive investment condition is still of concern. For example, the recent agreement between the Exxon-Mobil and Pertamina regarding Cepu oil field is a positive precedent to the future investment in the industry (ADB, 2006). This field will contribute approximately 20% of the current daily production (Rigzone News, 2006). Nonetheless, in the next decade the capacity of production is believed to be lower compared to 1999 level (Miriawati, 2004).

International Competitiveness and Porter’s Diamond Model
A country is internationally competitive in a certain industry if it has “the ability to provide internationally a quality product, promptly at a reasonable price” (Gapinski, 2001. p37). To compete in such global environment, a country requires certain advantage over the others which has to be maintained continuously. The term ‘advantage’ is proposed by Adam Smith in 1776 in his book The Wealth of Nations. Smith suggests ‘absolute advantage’ as the explanation for international trade as opposed to mercantilism principle ‘zero sum game’, which has been previously criticized by Hume in 1752 (Gionea, 2004).
The absolute advantage theory is then enhanced by David Ricardo in 1817, by introducing ‘comparative advantage’. Ricardo encourages countries to trade among each other by dedicating their factors of production to the most efficient sectors and obtaining the rest through international trade. Meanwhile, the Hecksher – Ohlin (factor endowment) theory aims to explain the pattern of international trade by revealing that countries are likely to export goods they produce with their abundance factors of production and import what is produced with the factors they scarcely have (Gionea, 2004).
The Porter’s diamond model aims to integrate the previous international trade theories. The model is based on the principle of competition among the nations, by exploiting their competitive advantages and continuously improving them through innovation and technological improvement (Porter, 1990). Porter argues that there are six determinants explaining competitiveness of a country. The determinants form a mutually reinforcing ‘diamond’ system. They are factor endowment, demand condition, related and supporting industries, firm strategy, structure and rivalry, the role of government and chance.
Summarizing his points, factor endowment is divided into basic factors including natural resources, climate, location semiskilled labour, debt capital; and advance factor involving modern infrastructure and skilled human resources and modern technology. These factors are only competitive if they are effectively utilized. Porter stresses the domestic demand as the primary driver for competitiveness. Nevertheless, international demand is likely to the main interest in natural resources sector. Related and supporting industries are very important in helping a firm compete internationally such as suppliers and services industries. Internal condition such as firm structure and strategy in competing domestic rivals is also one of the determinants. Porter believes in the role of the governments is providing supportive environment or the other way around. Finally, chance is factors beyond the control of the industry or government such as economic cycle, war and alike that may influence the competitiveness.

Indonesian Oil and Gas Industry Competitiveness
Factor Endowment

Indonesia has been recognized as one of the oil and gas rich country. Its membership in the OPEC is in support of this argument. In terms of basic factor endowment, the country has significant oil and gas reserves that can compete globally, especially in Asia Pacific region. BP (2005), for example, predicts that Indonesia is one of the largest oil and gas reserves in Asia Pacific as revealed in table 2. Its strategic location near the fast growing economies such as China and Singapore is another advantage. Furthermore, the 240-million population indicates a massive number of potential workforces.
Indonesia is relatively competitive in terms of advance factors. The country is now able to provide skilled workforce to the oil and gas industry. Most of the oil and gas companies employ domestic geologists and engineers. There are hundreds annual graduates from oil and gas related programs from Indonesian universities, though yet to be internationally recognized. There is also large number of operators that have acquired recognizable experiences. These achievements can be seen from increasing number of Indonesian skilled workers employed overseas in natural resources sector, such as Qatar, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam and Australia. A problem regarding advance factors is high cost communication technology, yet limited coverage. Nevertheless, natural resources companies overcome it by using satellite communication.

Demand condition
Even though strong domestic demand is not the primary concern, nonetheless, it may significantly shape the pattern of the trade. The domestic oil demand is currently getting stronger; gas demand is likewise though in a slower rate. By 2004, the oil consumption has exceeded the production reaching 1.15 million barrels per day, forcing the country to import crude oil. Nevertheless, gas export continues to grow thanks to low domestic demand.
The international consumption has outpaced the global production. The global oil demand has increased reaching 80.76 million barrels per day or nearly 3.4% increase from 2003 consumption level. This number reveals nearly 0.5 million barrels daily deficit in global oil supply as the 2004 production was 80.26 million barrels per day. The global gas consumption, similarly, indicates a faster pace compared to the production pace. For example, in 2004 gas consumption was 3.3% higher than 2003, whereas the production just increased by 2.8%.
The United States, OECD, and Asia Pacific nations were accounted for the majority of share in hydrocarbon consumption. The demand in China and India is expected to grow given their fast growing economies. Accordingly, the global oil deficit will broaden and gas consumption is likely to follow. For example, most of the fast growing Asia Pacific economies experienced roughly two digits annual growth in oil consumption during 2004, with China accounted for nearly 16% (6.68 million barrels daily). Additionally, in Asia Pacific region, the gas demand in Singapore and Hong Kong experienced the most dramatic annual growth in 2004 (45.7% and 44.5% respectively).

Firm Structure, Strategy and Rivalry
The majority of the oil and gas companies operating in Indonesia are overseas affiliation. Their headquarters are mostly in the US, Europe, and several Asia Pacific companies such Petronas and Petrochina International. Despite the state-owned company, Pertamina, there have also been several Indonesian oil companies such as Medco and so on. Given the economies of scale, there has been limited number of companies entering the industry. This results in an oligopolistic environment dominated by companies like Chevron, Exxon Mobil, British Petroleum and Total. This structure, nevertheless, enables the companies to overcome the technology and knowledge capital constrains. For example, the oil and gas companies employ the cutting edge technology from their host countries, such Exxon-Mobil using 4-D seismic technology from the US.
The oil and gas companies, in general, operate their exploration and production fields under joint venture or contract schemes. These strategies help them to spread the risks and distribute the resources among the companies. The schemes also positively contribute to the local partners through the transfer of knowledge and technology. For example, Total Indonesie, one of the biggest gas producers, normally contracts out many of its exploration and maintenance works to local companies, hence local partners should fulfil the required standard. Meanwhile, Medco and Pertamina jointly operate the Tiaka oilfield in offshore Central Sulawesi.

Related and Supporting Industry

As mentioned previously, contractor and service industries play essential role in Indonesian oil and gas industry. Do these related industries deliver an international standard of services? There is large number of world class service industry operating in Indonesia. Particularly, many international financial institutions operate in the country, such like PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst and Young, Citibank, and many more. International oil and gas contractors and services are also available; Schlumberger, Geoprolog, and Paradigm just to name a few. Accordingly, there is no real problem regarding world class supporting industries. Nevertheless, investors are still facing the problems regarding research and development and reliable database regarding the industry. Several companies, like Miningindo, have started to provide such information. Yet, research and development still heavily relay on the oil and gas companies.
On the subject of downstream industry, Pertamina still possesses privilege to market the subsidized gasoline and diesel fuels domestically. However, under Government Regulation no. 36/2004, oil and gas operators are eligible to sale their own processed fuel, such as operating unsubsidized fuel stations (Luckey and Gupta, 2004). This new regulation allows oil and gas firms to establish their own processing, transportation, and trade facilities and networks. Furthermore, there have also been established downstream businesses supporting the oil and gas upstream like refineries, gas pipeline to Singapore, and transportation facilities. Frequent domestic fuel supply disruption becomes the main concern as the vast majority of downstream business is still operated by Pertamina plus poor physical infrastructures.

Government Policies and Practices

Government role is the next determinant for the energy businesses after the factor endowment. Tilton (2002) argues that government can boost the competitiveness by creating necessary conditions for innovation and technological improvement. This role materializes in the form of fiscal policies including taxes and royalties, and investment policies.
Governance and law uncertainty are the Indonesia’s main pitfalls (Basri, 2005). Lack of professionalism, unnecessary bureaucracy, and contradiction among regulations are a few that deteriorate Indonesia’s oil and gas investment. To illustrate, investors have experienced difficulties in dealing with conflict between local and central government regulations, and inexperience local government officials since the implementation of regional autonomy in 1998.
In terms of fiscal policy, the main concern is taxes and royalty system. Indonesia is the first country employs contract production sharing (KPS) between the field operator i.e. oil and gas company and the government. Current share ratios are 65:35 for oil and 60:40 for gas in favour to the government or roughly 5 to 14% revenue (Wells, 2006), yet it is subject to negotiation based on individual project (WEC, 2006). This scheme may create uncertainty for companies in calculating the taxes and royalty portions, yet it provides undisputable share between the parties. Hence, the scheme is now widely adopted by most of the Middle Eastern and Asian countries (Wells, 2006).

Chance
The oil and gas industry faces various external forces that can either positively or negatively impact the competitiveness. Firstly, Global oil shortage, fast growing economies such as China and India, political instability in the Middle East are the possible factors for increasing oil and gas prices. Higher oil prices stimulate the companies to increase their exploration budget. Middle Eastern unrests make Indonesia as an alternative choice for oil and gas investment. Meanwhile, under ceteris paribus condition, it will be cheaper for the South East Asian countries to import oil and gas from Indonesia, instead of the Middle East or Russia thanks to Indonesia’s strategic position.
The external factors that may hamper the Indonesian petroleum competitiveness are environmental issues, alternative energy, and pandemic diseases such avian flu and SARS. Uranium and coal are the main substitutes for oil and gas fuels. Furthermore, there has been strong demand for cleaner energy. In conjunction with increasing oil prices, the countries will seek alternatives energy sources like ethanol, wind, tide, and waterfalls. For instance, the trend of global oil and gas demand will change significantly by China’s plan to increase uranium-based power plants. Meanwhile, increasing campaign for utilizing ethanol fuel will decrease the demand for gasoline and diesel fuel. Other issues are regarding pandemic diseases such as avian flue and SARS. These pandemics were firstly encountered in East Asia; thus considerable number of Indonesians died from avian flu. This condition may affect the companies’ decisions to invest in Indonesia including oil and gas industry.

Conclusion
Indonesia’s oil and gas industry is still competitive in the global market, especially in Asia Pacific region, even though not as strong as pre-economic crisis. The macroeconomic indicators and investment climate sound encouraging. Meanwhile, the country has considerable oil and gas reserves, with a strong domestic and regional demand, in addition to its strategic geographical setting. Domestically, Indonesia is able to support the industry with large number of labour forces and adequate number of skilled workforce. There are also reliable supporting industries such as world class financial and technical services companies. Well established world class oil and gas operators and other operational strategies are significant properties to operate competitively. Furthermore, current regulatory reform and the improvement of investment incentive are believed to enhance the domestic investment in oil and gas industry. The competitiveness is also strengthened by increasing fuel prices, deepening global oil deficits, and political instability in hydrocarbon rich countries.
However, there are prices for regaining such competitiveness. The government needs to boost investment in exploration and provide incentive to optimize the existing wells in order to maintain a sustainable competitiveness. Accordingly, the government needs to address governance related issues including improving professionalism and the quality of the service. Resolving the contradiction among regulations, including those relates to the implementation of regional autonomy is a must. Upgrading communication infrastructure is of concern as well as transportation. Increasing the investors’ confidence by implementing strategic approaches in tackling the pandemics in the region is also required.

References

ADB 2006, 'Indonesia', in Asian Development Outlook 2006, Asian Development Bank, pp. 199 - 203. from http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/ADO/2006/documents/ino.pdf
Basri, CM 2005, 'Indonesia', in R Richardson (ed.), Pacific Economic Outlook 2005 - 2006, Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, Singapore, pp. 26 - 31. from http://www.asiapacificbusiness.ca/peo/index.cfm
BI 2005, 'Outlook for the Indonesian Economy, 2006', in Prospek Perekonomian Indonesia Tahun 2006, Central Bank of Indonesia, Jakarta, from http://www.bi.go.id/NR/rdonlyres/A1C39CA4-3031-4CCA-8560-910DD285D685/3270/ProspekperekonomianIndonesiatahun2006_Engl.pdf
BP 2005, Putting Energy in the Spotlight: The BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2005, British Petroleum. Retrieved: May 1st, 2006, from www.bp.com/statisticalreview
Gapinski, J 2001, 'Developing ICOM: An Index for International Competitiveness', in H Bloch & P Kenyon (eds.), Creating an Internationally Competitive Economy, Palgrave, Basingstoke, pp. 36 - 50.
Gionea, J 2005, 'International Trade Theory', in International Trade and Investment: An Asia-Pacific Perspective, 2nd edn, Mc-Graw Hill Irwin, Sydney, pp. 51 - 70.
Gylfason, T 2001, 'Natural Resources, Education and Economic Development', European Economic Review, vol. 45, no. 2001, pp. 847 - 859.
Hayashi, M 2005, 'Structural Change in Indonesian Industry and Trade: An Input - Output Analysis', The Developing Economies, vol. XLIII-1, no. March 2005, pp. 39 - 71.
How Much Will Rising Oil Prices Slow Asian Growth? 2005, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Retrieved: April 28, 2006, from http://www.asiapacificbusiness.ca/apbn/pdfs/bulletin222.pdf.
Luckey, L & Gupta, S 2004, 'Downstream Oil and Gas Business Activities: Summary and Issues', Connected Thinking: Energy Utilities and Mining Flash, pp. 6 - 10.
Miriawati, I 2004, Marginal Fields in Indonesia, BPMIGAS. Retrieved: May 06, 2006, from ttp://www.ccop.or.th/projects/PPM/Case_Study_Indonesia_files/3rd_Workshop/presentations/Doc03_marginalfieldsinIndonesia.pdf.
Porter, M 1990, 'Determinants of National Competitive Advantage', in The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Macmillan, London, pp. 69 - 130.
'PT Pertamina Proposal to Cepu Unacceptable' 2006, Rigzone News, February 21, 2006.
Susastro, H, The Economic Crisis in Indonesia: Lesson and Challenge for Sustainable Development. Retrieved: March 20, 2005, from http://www.pacific.net.id/pakar/hadisusastro/economic.html.
Temple, J 2001, Growing Into Trouble: Indonesia After 1966, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Tilton, JE 2002, Source of Wealth and Competitiveness in Mining, The Centro de Mineria of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica, Chile.
Tse, P-K 2001, 'The Mineral Industry of Indonesia', in US Geological Survey Minerals Yearbook 2001, pp. 12.1 - 12.10.
WEC 2005, The Benefits and Deficiencies of Energy Sector Liberalization Upstream Oil and Gas, World Energy Council. Retrieved: May 10th, 2006, from http://www.worldenergy.org/wec-geis/publications/reports/current_cls/ClsGAS.asp#intro.
Wells, P 2006, Petroleum Contract and Related Issues, Baku. Retrieved: May 10th, 2006, from http://www.eiti-az.org/ts_gen/eng/eiti_news/intconference_PeterWells_presentation_e.pdf.

Saturday 22 November 2008

INDONESIA DI MATA SEORANG MINORITAS

Makalah Diskusi menyambut 17 Agustus 2006 di Perth
Herman Seran

Introduksi
Ketika panitia seminar menggategorikan NTT sebagai wilayah yang terpinggirkan secara identitas, dan saya diminta bersaksi tentang bentuk marginalisasi tersebut saya sempat bingung: bagaimana pendapat saya. Karena menurut pengamatan orang Indonesia yang lain, orang NTT telah tergeser ke tepian kehidupan bernegara Indonesia, setelah 61 tahun bersama mengikrarkan satu kebersamaan dalam payung negara kesatuan Republik Indonesia.
Apa benar bahwa orang dan wilayah NTT terpinggirkan secara identitas? Apa alasan untuk mengklaim bahwa NTT sungguh terpinggirkan akibat dinamika sosial, ekonomi dan politik negara yang mengakui hakekatnya untuk melindungi segenap bangsa Indonesia tanpa berbagai embel – embel sejenis minoritas atau mayoritas? Secara umum saya akui bahwa pernyataan tersebut ada benarnya. Tapi jangan – jangan ini cuman perasaan saya saja? Karena nyatanya, hari ini AIPPSA masih memberikan kesempatan kepada kelompok yang terpinggirkan itu untuk bicara. Atau, di tingkat nasional, hasil muktamar NU yang baru lalu membuktikan bahwa pluralitas dan kebhinekaan Indonesia masih disadari oleh organisasi muslim terbesar di Indonesia itu.
Untuk pembahasan isu peminggiran identitas tersebut, saya akan mengkalibrasi opini saya dengan pernyataan beberapa teman yang berasal dari NTT maupun yang lama tinggal di NTT. Kemudian kita melihat bukti – bukti yang mendukung dalam konteks pengalaman saya sebagai orang NTT. Selanjutnya saya mendiskusikan akibat marginalisasi tersebut bagi kehidupan berbangsa dan bernegara Indonesia. Berdasarkan pemaparan di atas, saya akan susulkan dengan apa ide saya untuk menjaga persatuan dan kesatuan Indonesia di masa depan.

Kalibrasi Opini
Saya coba bertanya kepada beberapa teman saya lewat email untuk menyelaraskan opini saya yang sering kali ekstrem. Katakanlah pooling opini cendikiawan muda yang berasal dari dan atau bekerja di NTT. Sebagian besar mereka mengakui bahwa pendapat saya tidak terlalu menyimpang dari apa yang mereka pikirkan. Berikut petikan dari beberapa pernyataan mereka:

“...satu hal yang saya sesali adalah betapa piciknya anak-anak bangsa sekarang yang menggunakan dan memanfaatkan perbedaan yang ada sebagai alat untuk memaksakan kepentingan sebagian golongan. disini anak-anak bangsa non jawa menjadi kelompok minoritas dan terpinggir karena dianggap tidak penting, tidak berbudaya, tidak pintar dan kurang berpendidikan. kira-kira segini aja komentar saya soalnya sakit hati kalau diterusin...” (AL)

“…pendapatan per kapita penduduk NTT ternyata kedua paling kecil: Rp3.113.300,00, sangat kecil dibanding pendapatan per kapita nasional Rp10.461.700,00. Ini hanya sedikit lebih tinggi dari Maluku Utara, Rp2.713.700,00. Padahal ketong tahu mereka baru saja lepas dari konflik panjang!...” (PP)

“…Gambaran situasi pendidikan di Desa Oeniko, Kabupaten Kupang (kurang lebih 55 km dari Kupang): Angka buta huruf di desa ini mencapai 95%. Satu-satunya sekolah yang ada adalah SD darurat yang hanya memiliki 3 kelas yang dibangun dengan swadaya masyarakat (!) dengan bahan seadanya: berdinding bebak gewang dan bambu, dan beratap daun alang-alang. Jumlah guru hanya 2 orang sehingga ada 2 kelas yang hanya diasuh oleh satu tenaga pengajar. Status dari 2 guru tersebut yaitu 1 guru kontrak dan 1 guru bantu, yang gajinya dibayar oleh swadaya masyarakat juga (Rp 450.000/bulan), dan melalui pungutan komite sekolah (Rp 150.000/bulan) (total Rp 600.000/bulan, yang berarti gaji guru Rp 300.000/guru/bulan) .
…. Untuk melanjutkan ke SMP atau SMA, orang harus ke ibukota Kecamatan, yaitu Oesao, yang berjarak 20 km dari desa, dengan jalan yang hanya berupa pengerasan. Sebagai tambahan, selama terbentuknya desa Oeniko, pembangunan sarana dan pra sarana hanya pengkerasan jalan desa sepanjang 1 kilometer sedangkan kantor desa dibangun secara swadaya masyarakat dengan gotong royong....” (RF)

“… saya merasa NTT belum merdeka.Teman-teman bahkan menambahkan, kalau tdk ada konflikTimtim, Kupang-Atambua tdk mungkin ditempuh dalam kurang dr 12 jam alias jalan dan jembatan tdk dibangun...” (DH).


Pengalaman dan observasi pribadi:
Bukti Marginalisasi
NTT memang terpinggirkan secara identitas dalam beberapa aspek:
Aspek geografis: banyak orang Indonesia terlebih yang di Jawa tidak tahu dimana NTT itu berada. Ketika pertama kali saya sekolah di Yogyakarta, saat berkenalan dengan beberapa teman dari jawa. Saya katakan bahwa saya dari NTT. Teman itu menjawab... “Oh Lombok?” “Bukan! Timor!” “Oh Timor Timur?” “Bukan! Timor Barat!” “Dimana Timor Barat?” Pengalaman seperti ini terjadi acap kali terhadap saya selama saya tinggal dan hidup di Yogya dari 1992 hingga 2002.

Aspek Politik dan Pemerintahan: pemerintah Republik Indonesia tidak sadar bahwa NTT itu adalah propinsi kepulauan. Buktinya, sampai hari ini Pemprov NTT masih memperjuangkan status NTT sebagai provinsi kepulauan. Adalah ironis bahwa gelar “Nusa” tidak serta merta berarti kepulauan bagi provinsi yang mempunyai lebih dari 550 pulau tersebut. Karena saking banyaknya pulau, Pulau Pasir (Ashmore Reef) yang secara anthropologis milik orang NTT tidak tergambar dalam peta Belanda tapi muncul di peta Inggris (pers com with Aloysius Maja), sehingga menjadi milik Australia walaupun orang NTT masih berjuang sampai sekarang untuk mengklaim fakta antropologis tersebut.

Aspek Sosial: 91% penduduk NTT adalah Kristen, sehingga pemberlakuan peraturan yang menyiratkan diskriminasi bagi orang non-muslim adalah bentuk marginalisasi bagi orang NTT. Bukti yang paling jelas adalah ancaman dari sekelompok orang NTT untuk keluar dari Indonesia jika RUU APP disahkan menjadi UU. Selain itu vonis hukuman mati bagi Tibo Cs terkait kasus Poso, bagi orang NTT adalah bentuk pengkhianatan yang paling menyakitkan. Mengapa? Di samping karena tiga orang tersebut adalah transmigran asal NTT, bagi orang NTT, vonis itu tidak lebih daripada bentuk penumbalan orang kecil dan ketidakadilan bagi orang kristiani.

Aspek Pendidikan dan Pengembangan SDM: Standar pendidikan Indonesia bagian timur dan barat sangat jauh berbeda. Semua universitas besar ada di Jawa dan Sumatera sementara yang di timur hampir tidak kedengaran. Paling yang kedengaran UNHAS dan UNSRAT, selebihnya tidak ada yang tahu. Ilustrasi tentang universitas di atas menggambarkan kualitas pendidikan secara umum di Indonesia bagian timur yang berada di bawah standar nasional. Sebagai contoh, seorang teman saya dari Flores yang kuliah di AKABRI Magelang tahun 1990-an bercerita kepada saya, bahwa sebelum mengikuti kuliah normal dia ikut kelas matrikulasi. Jika lampu kelas matrikulasi dipadamkan, maka tidak ada yang terlihat kecuali kalau tertawa, karena semuanya berasal dari NTT, Maluku dan Papua. Tapi pada semester pertama kuliah dia menduduki ranking tiga. Pengalaman yang sama terjadi bagi banyak orang NTT yang kuliah di Jawa.

Aspek Pendidikan Sejarah: Pendidikan sejarah Indonesia terlalu menitik beratkan kepada sejarah perjuangan tokoh – tokoh Indonesia bagian barat. Hal demikian menyebabkan pelajaran sejara tidak membangkitkan rasa patriotisme saya sebagai warga negara, justru membuat saya merasa didoktrin dan terpinggirkan. Mengapa? Karena pengajaran demikian tidak membangkitkan sense fo belonging saya terhadap negara RI. Pelajaran sejarah demikian menciptakan kesan alienasi dan tidak menumbuhkan solidaritas kebangsaan. Kenyataannya, tempat lain termasuk NTT pun mempunyai para pejuang yang seharusnya perlu diangkat untuk menunjukkan bahwa Republik ini adalah hasil perjuangan kita semua. Tapi karena tidak diajarkan di sekolah, apa yang diceritakan nenek saya tentang keperwiraan pahlawan lokal daerah saya itu terasa seperti cerita legenda nenek moyang yang menciptakan image kejayaan masa lalu.

Aspek Praktek Kehidupan Harian: Seorang teman saya dari Ende pernah mengatakan bahwa Indonesia itu batasnya sampai di Bali. Kenapa? Karena para pejabat dari pusat kalo ke timur sampai di Bali balik. Dan para pejabat dari timur sering ke Bali untuk melapor. Bukti yang paling nyata adalah ketika ada lowongan kerja dari BUMN atau instansi vertical negara maka tempat testnya untuk NTT maksimum sampai di Bali. Contohnya adalah pengumuman tempat test penerimaan karyawan BI beberapa waktu lalu wilayah Nusa Tenggara dipusatkan di Bali. Dengan sendirinya sebagian besar kandidat NTT sudah tersisih karena keterbatasan akses baik dari segi jarak maupun dana.

Akibat Marginalisasi
Proses panjang marginalisasi tersebut mengkristal dalam bentuk competitive disadvantage yang membuat orang NTT, dan Indonesia bagian timur pada umumnya, berbenturan dengan ‘high barrier to participate’ dalam kehidupan bernegara dan berbangsa. Pada gilirannya, NTT semakin terpinggirkan dan bisa mengarah kepada eskalasi problem – problem sosial politik yang tidak kondusif. Orang hanya tersentak kalo ternyata di Sikka ada bencana kelaparan, sehingga DepSos harus turunkan timnya ke sana. Sayangnya mereka hanya dari atas mobil dan melihat anak – anak melambaikan tangan. Dan mereka simpulkan tidak ada kelaparan, karena anak – anak itu masih bisa bermain dan melambaikan tangan dengan ceriah. Satu pernyataan yang tidak ada bedanya dengan statemen Menko Kesra melihat babi di Yakuhimo gemuk – gemuk, dan menyatakan bahwa tidak ada kelaparan di sana, walaupun terbukti ada yang mati kelaparan.

Seperti apakah barrier to entry yang dimaksud?
Identitas agama dan suku. Ketika saya di SMA guru saya pernah mengatakan kepada kami bahwa paling tidak ada dua syarat untuk menjadi calon presiden Indonesia. Dua kriteria utama tersebut adalah muslim dan Jawa. Sejauh mana pernyataan itu benar? Saya sebagai orang NTT harus realistik bahwa memang Indonesia itu penduduknya mayoritas muslim dan Jawa, jadi probabilitas orang yang tidak memenuhi criteria di atas pasti kecil kemungkinan untuk terpilih. Artinya secara identitas, orang NTT punya hambatan untuk bersaing secara seimbang. Contoh yang lebih membumi: saya pernah ditest untuk menjadi asisten laboratorium sewaktu kuliah. Secara kualitas saya tidak meragukan kemampuan saya, karena di samping IPK saya, hampir setiap tahun dipercayakan jurusan untuk menjadi pembimbing pengenalan lapangan geologi untuk mahasiswa baru, dan beberapa asisten senior sudah mendekati saya. Ketika memasuki tahapan test terakhir dosen penguji bertanya: “Apa Agamamu?” Saya jawab “Katholik.” Ternyata dia tidak bertanya tentang ilmu saya tapi agama saya. Hasilnya, saya tidak lulus test asisten lab. Syukurnya, Freeport mengetes saya dan dinyatakan sebagai satu dari 4 mahasiswa geologi Indonesia yang berkesempatan ikut program ‘link and match’ yang diterapkan mentri P & K Wardiman.

Kualitas SDM. Seperti dijelaskan di atas, kualitas pendidikan orang NTT pada umumnya berada di bawah level nasional. Hal ini bukan dikarenakan potensi yang rendah, tetapi lebih dikarenakan standar mutu pendidikan yang relatif rendah dibandingkan mereka yang di Indonesia bagian barat. Untuk yang satu ini, saya merupakan pendukung JK dalam hal perlunya ujian nasional bagi mereka dari Indonesia Timur, hanya harus disertai dengan pembenahan sistem dan fasilitas pendidikan Indonesia timur. Pernyataan yang dikutip dari kesaksian teman saya tentang sekolah di pinggiran Kupang di atas, menggambarkan wajah pendidikan NTT. Tapi harus diakui bahwa banyak orang NTT yang mampu melompati barrier tersebut dan berkiprah di tingkat nasional. Misalnya rektor pertama Gadja Mada adalah orang NTT dan Konsul RI di Perth adalah juga orang NTT. Atau, tahun ini ada seorang anak SD dari Flores yang menjadi juara olimpiade matematika di Singapura.

Infrastruktur dan fasilitas. Sarana prasarana NTT yang minim membuat sebagian besar orang NTT kalah dalam bersaing di tingkat nasional. Akibatnya adalah mereka lebih menjadi beban bagi negara Indonesia karena tidak produktif. Persoalan sejenis terjadi pada pengembangan potensi alam lokal seperti pertanian dan peternakan. Misalnya, di Timor pernah dikembangkan budidaya apel tropis yang kualitasnya menurut beberapa pakar lebih bagus dari apel Malang. Tapi karena akses pasar yang buntu, apel membusuk, dan petani harus menkonversi lahannya menjadi lahan jagung daripada makan apel sebagai makanan pokok.
Kemampuan ekonomi. Kemampuan perekonomian yang relative sangat rendah dibandingkan dengan daerah lain membuat NTT semakin tersinggirkan karena partisipasi dan aktualisasi diri perlu modal. Bagaimana mungkin mengharapkan orang NTT untuk test di Bali sementara untuk makan saja sulit? Contoh untuk ini adalah seorang teman saya dari Flores. Dia batal untuk menerima beasiswa ADS (targeted) karena tidak punya uang untuk berangkat test ke Jakarta. Tanpa mempertimbangkan usaha dia untuk mencari dana, kenyataan ini menggambarkan betapa sulitnya mobilitas kalau miskin. Apa lagi hanya untuk test masuk BI di Bali yang belum tentu lulus.

Konsekuensi Lanjutan dari Marginalisasi:

Jangka pendek:
- NTT tetap akan menjadi beban bagi kehidupan berbangsa dan bernegara secara khusus aspek perekonomian. Teori ekonomi mengataka bahwa salah satu elemen pertumbuhan ekonomi adalah produktifitas. Marginalisasi berakibat pada tidak optimalnya eksploitasi factor – factor produksi. Sementara itu, pemerintah pusat terus menerus mengucurkan dana bantuan. Akibatnya, adalah semakin lebarnya jurang kesenjangan antara timur dan barat.
- Penyelenggaraan kehidupan berbangsa dan bernegara yang tidak efektif akibat pemahaman yang tidak utuh tentang NTT. Nusa Tenggara Timur adalah propinsi kepulau dengan ratusan pulau dan puluhan suku bangsa. Adalah tidak efektif jika menerapkan strategi yang digunakan di propinsi lain yang lebih homogen dan relatif berada pada satu daratan. Strategy yang tepat bisa diadopsi hanya jika ada kesadaran dan pengakuan akan pluralisme negara kita.
- Eskalasi sentimen SARA. Ketika orang merasa tidak diakui identitasnya, mereka akan berusaha menunjukkan eksistensi mereka (pers com with Mas Gaffar and Bang Mangadar). Dengan demikian marginalisasi akan mempertajam konflik SARA. Sebagai contoh, sampai hari ini hampir setiap hari ada demonstrasi di NTT menentang hukuman mati Tibo Cs akibat bentuk peradilan yang tidak adil dan sarat kepentingan. Jika hal demikian terus menerus terjadi akibatnya adalah akumulasi frustrasi dan dendam yang mengarah kepada eskalasi anarki. Bahkan dalam hubungan dengan kasus Tibo Cs, Kabupaten Sikka telah ditingkatkan level keamanannya ke Siaga I.

Jangka Panjang: Desintegrasi Bangsa. Jika pemerintah tidak tulus mengatasi persoalan – persoalan marginalisasi hakekat kebhinekaan bangsa, maka akibat jangka panjangnya adalah pecahnya Republik Indonesia menjadi negara – negara kecil. Rasa pesimistik ini juga dirasakan salah seorang warga NTT yang menulis di Pos Kupang (17/8/2006). Dia mengibaratkan Indonesia sebagai orang tua umur 61 tahun yang sudah pikun, tidak tegas dan tegar, dan impoten (Charles Beraf, 2006). Menurut Beraf, Indonesia pikun karena begitu muda melupakan hal – hal besar yang menyangkut integritas bangsa. Misalnya, Indonesia lupa bahwa republik ini terbentuk atas dasar pluralisme, dimana frase ‘dengan kewajiban menjalankan syariat Islam bagi pemeluknya’ dihapus dari Pancasila sebagai akomodasi suara tokoh – tokoh Indonesia bagian timur oleh tokoh – tokoh Islam nasionalis. Bangsa ini juga tidak tegas menyelesaikan persoalan – persoalan di republik ini, sehingga republik ini lebih banyak dikendalikan oleh kepentingan – kepentingan kelompok tertentu. Dan bangsa ini juga sudah impoten karena tidak mampu memproduksi pemimpin – pemimpin besar yang mampu mengayomi segenap bangsa Indonesia tapi membiarkan bangsa ini dibawa kepada desintegrasi.

Mempertahankan Integrasi Bangsa
Bagaimana mempertahankan Integrasi Republik Indonesia? Saya mengawali pembahasan saya dengan mengutip pernyataan seorang dosen Universitas Katholik Widya Mandira Kupang di Pos Kupang (18/8/2006) tentang pengalaman ke-Indonesia-annya:

“…Rakyat kecil itu tidak sedang berperkara dengan Indonesia. Tapi sesungguhnya mereka sedang berperkara dengan ketidakadilan atas nama Indonesia. Dengan keterbelakangan atas nama negara. Dengan ketertindasan atas nama Tanah Air. Dengan berbagai penderitaan yang dilakukan atas nama Republik Indonesia. Mereka berada di Indonesia, tetapi terisih dan kalah di negerinya sendiri yang bernama Indonesia. Mereka selalu menjadi korban dari kebijakan-kebijakan atas nama Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia. Di situlah rakyat sering diperangkap oleh keindonesiaan yang semu dan penuh siasat bulus. Keindonesiaan yang membuat rakyat susah dan sering menjadi korban, sementara para elite ongkang-ongkang dalam kesenangan. Jika belakangan ini muncul wacana krisis nasionalisme, jangan-jangan esensi dan muaranya ialah krisis perilaku elite yang sering mengatasnamakan Indonesia...” (Emiliana Martuti Lawalu, 2006).

Jadi mempertahankan Indonesia lebih pada penghentian penyalahgunaan Indonesia untuk kepentingan pribadi dan kelompok. Mari kita menyadari bahwa integritas bangsa sedang kita pertaruhkan demi kepentingan sempit. Dalam hal ini strong political will pemerintah untuk kembali ke misi utama negara: menghantarkan segenap bangsa Indonesia menuju pintu gerbang kemerdekaan yang sesungguhnya. Gerbang yang di dalamnya setiap orang merasa sungguh Indonesia karena mempunyai tempat yang sejajar dan berkeadilan sosial bagi seluruh rakyat Indonesia.
Secara praktis saya menganjurkan:
- Pemerintah harus benar – benar menerapkan strategi pembangunan yang mengakomodasi potensi dan karakter lokal setiap daerah. Hal demikian hanya bisa terjadi jika negara sungguh mengenal dan mengakui eksistensi daerah dan masyarakatnya di seluruh nusantara. Pemerintah harus secara sengaja menerapkan program yang revolusioner untuk mempercepat ketertinggalan Indonesia bagian timur. Misalnya, Kalimantan dan Irian sebagai daerah yang kaya tambang dan hasil hutan harus didukung dengan sistem pengembangan sumber daya manusia yang menjawabi tantangan tersebut. Sementara Kepulauan Maluku dan Nusa Tenggara yang merupakan daerah kepulauan harus disokong dengan sistem transportasi laut dan infrastruktur yang memadai. Sehubungan dengan itu, saya setuju dengan negara federal sebagai bentuk pemerintahan yang lebih tepat untuk indonesia mengingat kebhinekaan dan pluralitas Republik Indonesia.
- Berikan perhatian khusus kepada pengembangan sumber daya manusia di Indonesia bagian timur. Untuk berkompetisi secara adil dibutuhkan starting point yang sama. Selama kualitas SDM barat dan timur tidak seimbang maka perasaan bahwa Indonesia bagian barat atau jawa menjajah luar jawa tetap akan menjadi isu yang mengancam desintegrasi bangsa. Karena itu langkah utama pemerintah adalah program – program strategis berkaitan langsung dengan peningkat kualitas institusi pendidikan. Untuk itu pemerintah dianjurkan menyokong dan mensubsidi institusi – institusi pendidikan yang berkualitas di daerah – daerah tersebut sehingga makin banyak anak didik yang tertampung di sana. Sebagai contoh, sebagian besar sekolah yang berkualitas di NTT adalah sekolah misi. Tapi biayanya mahal karena mereka tidak lagi didukung oleh dana dari luar. Bantuan pemerintah untuk lembaga pendidikan sejenis itu akan sangat membantu perluasan kesempatan belajar bagi masyarakat di wilayah Indonesia bagian timur.
- Hilangkan label agama dalam kehidupan bernegara, karena sering kali agama justeru menjadi hambatan persatuan dan kesatuan bangsa daripada pendapat yang selama ini digemborkan ‘bahwa setiap agama mengajarkan kebaikan’. Fanatisme sempit para pemeluk agama sering kali diperparah oleh pelabelan tersebut. Saya berpendapat bahwa orang harus dinilai atas dasar kualitas daripada agama yang dianutnya. Karena itu, mencantumkan agama seseorang dalam kartu identitas lebih banyak buntung ketimbang untung. Demikian juga perarturan pemerintah yang mengedepankan ajaran agama tertentu adalah musuh bagi kelanggengan persatuan Indonesia.
- Kembangkan komunikasi dan dialog intensif antara segenap elemen masyarakat di Indonesia untuk meningkatkan pengetahuan dan kesadaran akan keragaman bangsa. Syaratnya adalah kesadaran kritis bahwa keragaman mengandung potensi disintegrasi bangsa. Karena itu, proses peningkatan nasionalisme harus dikembangkan secara terus menerus melalui dialog bukan dengan senjata. Pemaksaan pendapat lewat represi militeristik sesungguhnya tidak kondusif dan sustainabel bagi integrasi bangsa. Apalagi dengan kadar profesionalisme tentara dan polisi yang setali tiga uang dengan preman pasar.
Mengingat pentingnya dialog dan komunikasi demi pemupukan rasa saling mengenal antara kelompok masyarakat di Indonesia, saya akhir sharing ini dengan sebuah cerita. Orang NTT sebenarnya juga terkenal dalam beberapa hal. Diantaranya adalah suka berkelahi dan menjadi preman. Tidak mengherankan ketika saya bicara tentang keberhasilan orang – orang NTT, seorang teman menyatakan: “Bukannya orang NTT itu lebih banyak kerja sebagai satpam?” Karena perilaku sebagian orang NTT yang sering mabuk dan terlibat kriminal banyak pemilik kos di Yogya enggan menerima orang NTT bersama dengan orang Batak dan Palembang sebagai anak kostnya. Salah seorang teman dari NTT yang kemudian menjadi preman di Yogya pernah bercerita begini:
Ketika sebelum berangkat kuliah di Jawa, dia sudah diceritakan bahwa Jawa itu banyak pencopetnya, jadi harus berhati-hati. Saat turun di Janti, dia menyewah becak ke Mrican. Di becak dia duduk menghadap tukang becak.
Tukang becak bilang: “Mas, duduknya menghadap ke depan!”
Jawabnya: “Biar saja begini!”
“Mas, tolong menghadap ke depan!” kata tukang becak lagi.
“Tidak, saya duduk begini saja!” kata teman itu.
“Kalau Mas tidak menghadap ke ke depan saya gak bisa jalan!” kata tukang becak bingung.
“Hei, lu pikir saya sonde tahu lu pung maksud? Lu suruh saya menghadap ke depan supaya lu copet saya pung dompet kan?” Bentak teman itu sambil memegang erat – erat dompetnya.

Jangan salah! Calon preman takut juga dicopet!.

MENGGUGAT HEGEMONI PARTAI POLITIK DI INDONESIA

Di penghujung tahun 2006 kisah – kisah ironis, yang berkaitan dengan partai politik menghiasi headline berbagai media massa baik nasional maupun lokal. Para aktor parpol itu sungguh menjadi selebriti yang tak habis diberitakan. Betapa tidak, publikasi tentang anggota dewan yang sedang tidur di ruang sidang sudah begeser ke tayangan hidup anggota dewan yang tidur dengan artis di kamar hotel. Waktu hampir bersamaan hasil survey Transparancy International mengungkapkan bahwa lembaga legislatif (4.2 dari skala 5), partai politik (4.1), dan lembaga peradilan (4.2) Indonesia menjadi sarang para koruptor kelas wahid (www.transparancy.org). Sementara itu, quick count Lingkaran Survey Indonesia menunjukkan bahwa cagub – cawagub independen di Aceh secara telak mempecundangi calon – calon yang diusung partai politik. Berita – berita ini menjadi tambah menggelikan karena pemerintah pun meluncurkan PP 37 tahun 2006 tentang Kedudukan Protokoler dan Keuangan DPRD yang melandasi penggelembungan pendapatan anggota dewan menjadi berlipat – lipat.
Isu apa yang diusung kejadian – kejadian di atas? Pesan apa yang hendak disampaikan tersebut? Inti semuanya itu adalah bahwa PP 37 tahun 2006 tidak lebih daripada konspirasi kepentingan partai politik yang bersembunyi di balik tameng wakil rakyat (legislative) dan pelaksana amanat rakyat (executive). Karena ternyata prinsip demokrasi telah terkebiri menjadi ’dari rakyat oleh partai dan untuk partai’. Rakyat semakin mual melihat semuanya dagelan picisan tersebut. Masyarakat perlu institusi tandingan yang menantang hegemoni parpol yang semakin semena – mena.
Setiap orang yang melaksanakan kewajibannya berhak untuk menuntut haknya. Demikian juga anggota dewan kita berhak mendapatkan peningkatan pendapatan kalau mereka sukses mengemban tugas kewajiban mereka. Tetapi, secara institusi, apakah anggota dewan sukses melaksanakan kewajibannya sehingga harus dilumuri dengan gaji beberapa kali lipat? Apakah pantas mereka digaji ratusan juta pertahun sementara pada tahun yang sama jumlah orang miskin di Indonesia mencapai 109 juta orang? Adalah tidak pantas mengganjar pekerja yang underperformance dengan tunjangan ratusan persen. Sebaliknya, yang patut dilakukan adalah pemecatan, karena mereka gagal mengemban tugas mereka. Sayangnya rakyat tidak punya hak untuk memecat mereka. Karena itu dibutuhkan legalitas untuk memecat mereka.
Persepsi masyarakat yang digambarkan oleh survey Global Corruption Barrometer menempatkan korupsi parpol dan legislatif Indonesia jauh di atas rata – rata sejawatnya di Asia Tenggara, mencerminkan betapa masyarakat begitu sinis terhadap elit – elit partai politik. Persepsi kebobrokan aparat partai ini diperkuat dengan publikasi Bank Dunia, yang menyatakan selama tahun 2006 jumlah penduduk miskin Indonesia naik dari 16 menjadi 17.5 persen. Angka tersebut senada dengan pengakuan gubernur NTT tentang adanya peningkatan kemiskinan di NTT (Pos Kupang 20/12/2006). Ini adalah bukti kegagalan aparat partai yang duduk di legislatif maupun eksekutif, yang memicu mosi tidak percaya masyarakat. Kemenangan telak calon independen dalam pemilihan gubernur di Provinsi Aceh versi quick count adalah eskalasi nyata dari mosi tidak percaya terhadap partai politik di republik ini.
Tanpa aturan saja mark up gaji anggota dewan menjadi berita lumrah dari surat kabar di NTT. Apa lagi jika ada landasan hukumnya. Etika dan moralitas bukanlah semangat legislatif dan eksekutif kita. Betapa tidak, rancangan peraturan daerahnya masih dibahas, pemprov NTT telah membayar lebih dari 6.5 milliar rupiah kepada DPRD NTT (Pos Kupang 20/12/2006). Tetapi, betapa sulitnya mengucurkan dana untuk mnyelamatkan mereka yang mati kelaparan dan gedung sekolah yang ambruk. Sehingga adalah dagelan yang tidak lucu kalau gaji DPRD Manggarai, lantaran PP 37/2006, mendekati 90 persen PAD kabupaten tersebut, sementara wakil ketua DPRDnya mengklaim bahwa semua kebijakan yang diambil semata untuk kepentingan rakyat (Pos Kupang 19-20/12/2006).
Dengan demikian, pembatalan PP 37/2006 sudah selayaknya dilakukan oleh pihak yang berwenang. Karena peraturan pemerintah tersebut mengkhianati asas kepatutan, bahkan memperluas ruang kesewenang-wenangan eksekutif dan legislatif. Bahwa ada pasal peraturan tersebut yang mengisyaratkan pertimbangan kondisi keuangan daerah dalam penetapan tunjangan dewan tidak dapat diandalkan, karena tidak lebih dari pasal karet yang sulit diukur akuntabilitasnya. Seharusnya, kenaikan gaji anggota dewan dan legislatif diperhitungkan berdasarkan kualitas kerja yang mereka tunjukkan. Tolok ukur yang bisa dipakai untuk mengukur performance mereka adalah kemajuan sosial ekonomi yang dicapai setiap tahun, entah itu dalam bentuk peningkatan pendapatan per kapita penduduk atau parameter lain yang lebih akuntabel. Dengan demikian legislatif dan eksekutif mempunyai insentif untuk berjuang meningkatkan taraf hidup rakyat. Lagi pula, pengeluaran pemerintah yang sifatnya konsumtif seperti gaji tidak berakibat positif bagi perekonomian rakyat. Karena itu lebih pantas dana miliaran rupiah dialokasikan untuk pengembangan infrastruktur dan peningkatan kualitas hidup rakyat.
Terus apa yang perlu dilakukan untuk menggerogoti hegemoni partai politik? Langkah penting yang perlu dilakukan adalah memperjuangkan perubahan UU Pemilu sehingga Pemilu tahun 2009 membuka peluang untuk calon – calon independen di legislatif maupun eksekutif. Hal ini perlu, karena fakta – fakta di atas membuktikan bahwa partai politik yang sekarang tidak bisa dipercaya untuk mengemban suara rakyat. Bahkan jika ada calon pemimpin yang bersih yang diusung partai politik hampir pasti akan terkontaminasi karena sistem yang korup dan tidak efisien. Tentu akan ada sanggahan bahwa calon independen yang naik akan menjadi tidak kuat dan menghasilkan pemerintahan yang tidak stabil. Namun klaim tersebut tidak beralasan, karena masyarkat yang akan tampil menjadi garda depan menghadang mereka yang semena – mena terhadap pemimpin yang mengamalkan amanat rakyat.
Kaum cendikiawan, media massa, dan pihak lain yang peduli akan hak – hak asasi rakyat hendaknya mempromosikan wacana tentang perlunya calon independen dalam pemilihan umum mendatang. Wacana tersebut untuk membangkitkan kesadaran masyarakat dan memberi tekanan kepada pemerintah untuk membuka peluang bagi calon alternatif. Karena setidaknya ada tiga keuntungan dari kehadiran calon independen dalam sistem perpolitikan Indonesia.
Pertama, calon independen merupakan bentuk kontrol bagi partai politik peserta pemilu. Kehadiran calon independen membuat partai politik lebih hati – hati dalam memperjuangkan kepentingan elitnya, mengingat ancaman swing voters yang bisa beralih ke calon independen. Harapannya, partai politik lebih memperjuangkan kesejahteraan rakyat, jika ingin tetap dipilih rakyat. Dalam konteks ini, calon independen mengambil peran sebagai oposisi, yang secara konstan berfungsi menantang status quo. Fungsi ini penting untuk dilaksanakan, karena tidak ada partai peserta pemilu yang melaksanakan peran yang jelas sebagai partai oposisi. PDIP perjuangan yang mengklaim sebagai partai oposisi di tingkat pusat pun tidak menunjukkan peran oposisi yang nyata. Lebih kabur lagi peran oposisi tersebut di tingkat provinsi dan kabupaten.
Kedua, calon independen yang terpilih kecil peluang untuk sewenang – wenang. Argumen yang menyokong klaim ini adalah calon independen tidak punya backing yang kuat di legislatif dan sekaligus terlepas dari konspirasi khusus dengan partai politik, selain janjinya terhadap rakyat. Oleh karena itu, calon independen terpilih akan lebih besar peluang keperpihakan kepada konstituennya, karena pendukungnya adalah massa riil, bukan partai politik. Dengan kata lain, pemimpin dari jalur independen baik di eksekutif maupun legislatif akan berakibat positive bagi peningkatan prinsip kehati-hatian.
Ketiga, calon independen akan meningkatkan jumlah peserta pemilu. Banyak calon pemilih yang memilih untuk tidak ikut pemilu alias ’golput’ karena tidak percaya dengan partai politik yang ada. Calon independen menjadi wadah alternatif yang menampung suara – suara golongan yang apatis dengan partai politik. Dalam demokrasi partai politik adalah sarana bukan tujuan. Jika sarana tidak membantu rakyat mencapai tujuan, maka perlu untuk mempertimbangkan sarana lain yang lebih efektif. Calon independen adalah bentuk koreksi atau pilihan alternatif yang dapat meningkatkan efektivitas pemilihan umum.
Harapannya adalah bahwa paradoks kenaikan gaji pemerintah berbanding terbalik dengan keberhasilan pembangunan bisa di eliminir. Prinsip no gain no reward perlu ditegakkan agar para pejabat tidak seenaknya memperkaya diri sendiri. Sehingga pada gilirannya, gelar partai politik dan legislatif sebagai lembaga paling korup di Indonesia bisa dihapus. Karena hal – hal demikian hanya akan meningkatkan anarki yang kemudian, mengancam keutuhan negara Republik Indonesia.
Kesimpulannya, menyaksikan mengganasnya kesewenang-wenangan partai politik yang dibuktikan dengan penjabaran PP 37/2006, maka hegemoni partai politik di Indonesia perlu dikikis. Calon independen baik di legislatif maupun eksekutif perlu diakomodasi dalam pemilu 2009, sebagai tantangan bagi dominasi partai politik dalam pemilihan umum. Oleh karena itu, promosi akomodasi calon independen adalah suatu urgensi bagi semua pihak, terutama para cendikiawan dan media massa. Calon independen akan menjadi oposisi alternatif bagi sistem politik dimana tidak terlihat peran partai oposisi yang jelas. Calon independen terpilih pun pada gilirannya akan berakibat positif bagi good governance. Terlebih, calon independen menjadi penampung alternatif bagi suara – suara yang selama ini memilih ’golput’. Dengan demikian demokrasi di negara ini dikembalikan esensinya, dari prinsip ’dari rakyat, oleh partai, untuk partai’ menjadi ’dari rakyat, oleh rakyat , untuk rakyat’.

Human Resources Practice in Mining Industry

Herman Seran

Introduction
The effectiveness of human resources and industrial relation has become a central issue to modern organizations. A research reveals that four out of five companies’ strategic priorities are related to human resources concern (Jensen & Spencer, 2003). Since the organizations incorporate human resources and industrial relation into one body, the discussion will treat both as human resources management. In similar vein with other industry in this cutting edge world, mining industry is dealing with the same concern, nevertheless, given its uniqueness, mining companies are facing even more difficult situation in their strategic human resources management. It is because the mining companies are forces to continuously maintain low cost business while trying to breakthrough cyclical and exhaustive nature of the industry. Furthermore, more and more ore bodies found in remote area, with considerable socio-economic impacts, has put additional burden as well as general trend of declining real price for most of the commodities.
This paper, therefore, is going to discuss the effective human resources management practices in mining industry in order to maintain the profitability. Firstly, the theory regarding human resources management functions in an organization is considered, followed by assessing its contribution to the organization and how these functions fit into the organization’s structure. The paper then touches on the practicality of the human resources / industrial relation in mining companies.

The Responsibility of Human Resources Management
Human resources management aims to maximize the productivity of human capital to achieve organizational goals and the satisfaction of the employees. In order to achieve organizations objective, human resources management has experienced various changes and development through a long way of history. Campton and Baird (2005) suggest that human resources management in Australia has experienced evolution from welfare administration to personnel management and industrial relations in 1900 to human resource management and strategic human resources management (SHRM), and since 2000 entering the so called SHRM in the new millennium. This evolution has further impacted the integration of human resources and industrial relations which were previously separately managed.
The productivity of employees is undoubtedly becoming an important proxy in channeling an organization’s competitive advantage in facing globalization forces. In today’s world, despite its traditional administrative roles, strategic human resources management concern has further extended to strategic functions to maximize a sustainable growth of an organization (HR Focus, March 2006 p.8). A study conducted in 2004, reveals that human resource management should deal with change management and leadership development as the today’s most challenges and the future biggest concerns will be the organization effectiveness and leadership development (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2004). The survey further reveals that being strategic business partner to the management in now days consumes larger portion of time than the administrative works.
A strategic business partner refers to the notion that the strategic human resources management aims to maintain the competitive advantage of the overall organization. The strategic human resources management implies dedicating time and effort to ensure that every decision is a win – win solution between organization objective achievement and employee satisfaction (Newton, 2005). Rufat-Latre (2005) believes that strategic effort is to build corporate-wide capabilities by continuously producing innovative employees who become agent of change and growth. In order to establish its strategic role as a strategic business partner, human resources staffs are required to continuously work at operational and functional levels as their traditional responsibilities (Nankervis, Campton and Baird, 2005, p.31). Consequently, human resources management practitioners are required to understand internal and external conditions, the objectives of organization and organizational plans, which facilitate them to contribute effectively to the bottom line of the organization.

HRM Contribution to Organizational Success
Since the human capital is the key input of an organization, intuitively, human resources management indeed contributes significantly to organizational success. In what ways human resources management can contribute? Research indicates that human resources management impact on business performance rather derived from its strategic roles. Nevertheless, human resources management practitioners are yet to be seen as strategic partner to senior management (Jamrog & Overholt, 2004). Unsurprisingly, the researchers find it difficult to draw connection between human resources management practice and the economic performance of a company.
A research done by Guest, at al. in 2003 as cited in Wright and Huggerty (2005), for instance, reveals that human resources practice were correlated to profitability but not productivity, yet also failed to prove it causes in employee performance. Wright and Huggerty further argue that this inconsistency comes from incomprehensive research methods that treating the parameters independently from each other. Another hindrance, to define human resources practice contribution in adding value to the organization, is problem of measurement (Wright and Huggerty, 2005).
There are at least four important contribution required from strategic human resources management. They are attracting and retaining qualified people, improving employee productivity, leadership and the development of management behavior, and organizational change and employee attitude (Jensen & Spencer, 2003). By conducting these strategic roles, human resources staffs can add value to the organization.

Suiting Human Resources Functions to Organizational Practice
‘Different pond different fish’ principle is accepted beyond doubt, when it comes to human resources practices. In general, human resource management functions are shared among human resources practitioners, line managers and often external consultants (Nankervis, Campton & Baird, 2005). Nevertheless, organizational culture, nature of the business, size and location, and other consideration play considerable role in how these functions executed. For example, the human resources function may disappear from the organizational structure at site level for a mining company, and the role may well be conveyed by site manager or project manager. Additionally, small companies and big companies may have different policy regarding the importance of the human resources practice.
Even though in many cases human resources management practitioners may not fully included in the organizational structure, the functions are always there with the companies. To other companies, the functions may appear in head office structure and other companies may employ human resources personnel just to run administrative functions rather than strategic functions. However, large number of executives believe that human resources management functions is critical to the future of the company, and human resources practitioners (if any) are demanded to take more control in shaping organizational effectiveness (Jensen & Spencer, 2004). Therefore, given the absence or lack of human resources staffs, the human resources management functions, especially strategic functions, are delegated to line managers or consultants if required.
The effectiveness of human resources management functions, in general, can be achieved by joint-decision making between human resources professionals and line managers. However, there is no single recipe can fit all, as human resources issue is a dynamic field that depends on constrains and opportunities faced by an organization. Accordingly, it is not uncommon to find some organizations incorporate their human resources affairs in the organizational structures; others shared the function between human resources practitioners and line managers, and even others companies have no human resources practitioners at all. Consequently, an effective human resources management assumes that ‘basic human resources literacy’ is embraced by the managers of the organization.

Human Resources Management in Mining Industry
As previously mentioned, mining companies face additional human resources problem given the industry’s distinctiveness. Unlike other industry, mining industry is highly uncertain as it strongly responsive to ‘economic boom and bust’ in addition to its exhaustive nature. Mining industry is driven by location where ore body is found regardless to availability of other resources including human capital. Furthermore, the industry is constantly facing the decline of commodity real prices forcing the industry to maintain low operational costs. For an illustration, gold deposits may be found in the inland of Borneo Indonesia, which is far away skilled labor market, and its economic viability depends on gold prices which than control other decision making, including how to fulfill skilled labor shortage.
Mining industry, as a matter of fact, has to overcome the human resources management problems which mostly derived from its uniqueness. Mining companies find it hard to maintain long-term strategic human resources, especially in project level and small companies. During the industry booming, attracting and retaining suitable people is of the problem due to the competition with intra-industry and other sectors. At the same time, mining companies should take into account the interests of other stakeholders such as governments and local communities. For instance, large number of mining development was delayed because of lacking skilled labor force. Meanwhile, companies who operate in Borneo Indonesia should allocate extra-training to unskilled local labor as solution for overcoming skilled shortage and local community demand.
Big mining companies, nevertheless, have more room to move in terms of maintaining as strategic human development in their companies. These companies, to some extent includes the head office of small companies, have more access to qualified workforces thanks to their economies of scale in terms of multiple projects, long mine-life, and financial capability to satisfy the employees needs. Small projects and small companies are less unattractive to skilled labor due to less promising benefits they can get. Accordingly, the strategic human resources management is a real challenge for small companies.
Mining companies normally split administrative functions and strategic functions between site office and head office, even though there is often no clear cut between the two. Given the fact that site operations last shortly, maintaining a permanent human resources personnel to deal with strategic functions is an inefficient strategy. Such kind of roles is normally delegated to line managers who are familiar with job requirement. Human resources practitioners focus on administrative roles such as industrial relations, employ related administration and legal advices. Meanwhile, strategic roles like human resources planning including, hiring, promotion and employee development belong to line managers. This strategy is an effective choice because the issue facing by site operation level is less complicated as of those in corporate level.
For example, Straits Resources Ltd, an Australian based diversified mining company, does not employ human resources staffs for its Mt. Muro Project in Indonesia. As the project has approximately four years mine life, the human resources administrative functions are running by another subsidiary company that looking after other projects as well. Meanwhile, strategic human resources functions at site level were shared among the line managers and other supervisors in charges. This approach is indeed efficient, even though may not be effective in the long run unless the head office human resources professionals deliberately integrated it into long-term strategic human resources management system.
Big mining companies, despite having ‘human resources literate’ line managers, have integrated the human resources management structure at the site level. This assumes additional costs, yet very effective to win and retain qualified workforces which will contribute to long term benefit of the company. Human resources staffs in these companies have maintained a comprehensive human resources management system ranged from recruitment, employee development, promotion and leadership succession. The involvement of line managers appears at last stage when the candidate has fulfilled the company strategic requirements.
PT Freeport Indonesia, a Freeport McMoran Pty. Ltd. subsidiary, has implemented an integrated human resources management system in its Grasberg Mine. The site human resources department, as well as its administrative functions, is responsible for recruitment, employee development, and promotion in cooperation with line managers as the users. The department has implemented strategic policies such as conducting management training program for fresh graduates and cooperative program for university students. These programs are very effective to detect and attract talented candidates, at the same time promoting the company to universities as the very source of skilled employees. As a follow up, the company will give the permanent status to best performers of the programs. The company also employs international human resources consultant to recruit experience candidates. Consequently, the company has advantages in employing qualified people and adequate numbers to fulfill organization demand. Additionally, company also prepares to provide competitive remuneration to its employees.
To sum up this section, mining companies realize the importance of human resources functions. The delivery of these functions depends on each company policy as strategy to face the industry specific challenges which may come in different forms and intensity. Therefore, the human resources management functions may be operated by human resources practitioners, line managers, or consultants or combination among those three.

Conclusion

Human resources management is a necessity to modern organizations. Human resources functions has broadened and shifted towards strategic business partner to top management. The strategic functions are recognized by company executives to be very critical to the company, although they may be implemented by human resources professional, line managers or even consultant. The effectiveness of the delivery of these functions is subject to various determinants.
Mining industry, as well as other industry, realizes how critical human resources management functions are. The challenges they face are even tougher as of the industry specific condition. The human resource functions, in small companies, are divided between site level and head office, where site human resources staffs deal with administrative functions and line managers and head office human resources staffs are responsible for strategic functions. Nevertheless, big companies may choose to have site human resources department due to their specific challenges. These choices are a trade of between the company demand and the ability to satisfy the needs, which varies from company to company.

References
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