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In this globalisation era, if Indonesian people wish to step forward, the most important thing is improving the quality of human resources and not only depending on only the natural resource potentials. This was said in the opening remark of the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Prof. Dr. Jimly Asshiddiqie, S.H. in front of board of leaders and management of National Secretary of the Protection of Constitutional Rights of Customary Law Community (Pimpinan dan Pengurus Sekretariat Nasional Perlindungan Hak Konstitusional Masyarakat Hukum Adat (PHKMHA)) and Leaders of Malayan Cultural Board also several provincial government officials of Riau Province, Tuesday (10/1), in Pekanbaru, Riau.
Jimly added, if a region was rich in natural resources, there could be two possible results, it could be a blessing or a “curse”. “Because if we don’t have high quality human resources, not only are we not able to make use of the natural richness but we are also threatened to be workers in our own country,” he said.
Jimly also reminded that the economic players nowadays did not recognise borders between countries. The money circulation and the development of technology did not also recognise the borders of ideology therefore all the world’s power would be looking the location of places with high natual resources. Jimly took Iraq being fought by the USA not because of the desire for war but to claim the abundant natural resources in the land of 1001 nights. “Becareful if our country is rich of natural resources, it will invite other parties to claim it in various ways including the legal way like being made rules to invite those parties because we can’t manage and make use of the resources,” he explained.
Until now, 64 percent of Riau inhabitants only finish their elementary school. For that, as the effort to improve the quality of the human resources, Jimly complimented the policy of the Riau Provincial Government that had prioritized to allocate some fund in the Provincial Budgeting (APBD) to improve the quality of education. “It means, there are a lot to be done to change the structure of our people. If possible, those 64 percent are University graduates,” explained Jimly.
Related to the verdict of the Constitutional Court that the budgeting for education should be at least 20 percent of the total budget, in that event the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court advised all regional government to obey the constitution which clearly stated that the National Budgeting and Regional Budgeting should provide 20 percent for education. “I am grateful, Riau has become one of the pioneering provinces that allocates 20 percent of the budget for education and it is used to improve the quality of the education. Of course it is not only for training education but also for behavioural and cultural education,” he pointed out.
For that, Jimly wished, so long as it was related to the loyalty to the Unitary State of Republic of Indonesia and the 1945 Constitution, so long as it trully obeyed what are contained in the 1945 Constitution as the highest law, then Indonesian people had been in the right track of developing the nation and the country. (Wiwik Budi Wasito/Yogi Djatnika)

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