President Jokowi Visits Bung Hatta's House Of Birth

Bukittinggi, W Sumatra (Antara Bali) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in Bukittinggi on Friday visited the house of birth of Bung Hatta, the first vice president of Indonesia after the proclamation of independence.

In the company of Bung Hatta's daughter Meutia Hatta and acting Governor of West Sumatra, Reydonnyzar Moenek; President Jokowi and First Lady Iriana strolled around every corner of the house along the Soekarno-Hatta street, in Bukittinggi.

President Jokowi expressed hope that the house which has been turned into a museum can pass on Bung Hatta's positive values of philosophy  the younger generation.

"The younger generations are expected to inherit Bung Hatta's values of philosophy with regard to discipline and devotion to the people," Jokowi said.

After visiting the home of Bung Hatta, the president and his entourage them made their way to Kampar district in Riau province to review the handling of the smog that has blanketed the area since some time ago.

Earlier on Thursday the president inspected a labor-intensive project using rural development fund allocations in the Padangpariaman district, West Sumatra.

"Rural funds can spur economic growth planned by the public, managed by the public and used by the public," the President said.

Every regional government in the country must soon disburse rural funds to serve the public's interests, he said.  

The President further praised the local administration for disbursing up to 90 percent of rural funds to the Parit Malintang village in the Enam Lingkung sub-district.

He suggested that the local community be able to take optimum advantage of natural resources for the benefit of people's welfare.

"In principle, our resources come from the people and must be used for the people too," he said.

The government is encouraging the use of rural funds to finance labor-intensive infrastructure development, hoping it will have a positive impact on the rural economy. (WDY)