"My principle, which I have conveyed at the ministry's echelon I (meeting), let's turn the tears of poverty into tears of happiness in every village," he said during a hearing session with the House's Commission V here.
At the meeting, he stressed that cooperation between the government--in this case, his ministry, related ministries, and the DPR--is key for pushing progress in villages.
"Cooperation between the government and the DPR is the key. If we do not cooperate, it will be hard, especially (in developing) villages," he added.
He said that 73 percent of Indonesia's population lives in villages, so village development efforts are needed.
"Almost 73 percent of the Indonesian population is in village. If we do not manage villages, it means we do not take care of Indonesia. Hence our tagline is 'Building Villages, Building Indonesia,'" he added.
He then asked the commission overseeing matters related to infrastructure and transportation to provide support, inputs, and directives to his ministry for optimizing village development.
"We ask for your guidance. Let's manage (villages) together. If you have time, I invite you to visit your constituencies," he said.
Susanto informed that he will hold a cross-ministry consolidation meeting soon to strengthen collaboration in building and advancing all villages in the country.
"We will cooperate with Minister of Agriculture, the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, the Minister of Forestry, and other agencies because this is a big job," he said.
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Translator: Tri A, Kenzu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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