REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PALEMBANG -- Minister of Transmigration and Disadvantaged Regions Marwan Jafar affirmed that his ministry had constantly made efforts to reduce the development gap between villages and urban areas.

"So far, the development gap between urban and rural areas is so wide that people no longer view villages as a suitable place to earn a living," Marwan noted at the opening of a national meeting on the environment in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Monday.

Marwan remarked that in an effort to narrow the gap, his ministry was taking steps to fully implement Law No. 6 of 2014 on Village Development. The law should be revised even if the regulation contained provisions that could hinder village development.

Since the enactment of the Law on Village, the people's mindset has changed, and the public has begun viewing villages as strategic places, which are considered to be the main support for life in urban areas, he affirmed.

The minister noted that villages had abundant resources as most of the natural wealth, in the form of forests, agriculture, coastal areas and marine resources, was found there.

The Law on Village should be enacted as a means and momentum to optimally utilize the country's natural resources found in villages. It should facilitate the efforts to improve the management of forest and land areas as well as the governance of just and sustainable production and consumption, he explained.

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