600,000 families to be resettled by 1999<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government plans to complete resettling
\n600,000 families by the end of the current sixth Five-Year
\nDevelopment Plan period in 1999, an official says.<\/p>\n
H.J. Widarbo Ruslan, the director general of resettlement at
\nthe Ministry of Transmigration, said that the resettlers comprise
\n350,000 families who would be fully sponsored by the government,
\nalong with 250,000 \"self-sponsored\" families who will receive
\nlimited government assistance.<\/p>\n
\"The trend of migration is still from western Indonesia to the
\neastern part,\" he told a press conference at his office in South
\nJakarta here yesterday.<\/p>\n
A number of new settlement sites would be opened in Irian
\nJaya, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Sumatra islands, he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia launched its transmigration program in 1971. Since
\nthen, it has resettled more than 14 million people from the
\ndensely populated islands of Java, Madura and Bali to more
\nsparsely populated islands around the country.<\/p>\n
For the 1996\/97 fiscal year, the ministry has set a target of
\nresettling 111,414 families, including 55,000 families who would
\nbe fully sponsored by the government and 35,000 \"self-sponsored\"
\nfamilies, Widarbo said.<\/p>\n
Official data shows that 90,000 families have already been
\nresettled in the current fiscal year.<\/p>\n
Widarbo also said that the government has established a
\nworking group to study the feasibility of its program to open up
\nnew settlement areas on Siberut Island off West Sumatra.<\/p>\n
The working group includes officials from related ministries,
\nincluding the Ministry of Transmigration and the office of state
\nminister of environment, he said.<\/p>\n
Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo had announced in
\nFebruary that the government would resume its program to open up
\nnew settlement areas on Siberut Island, in an effort to bring the
\nlargely backward island into the fold of modern civilization.<\/p>\n
The project was shelved in the 1980s because of strong
\nobjections from environmental groups, who were concerned about
\nthe impact the settlers' presence might have on the islanders.<\/p>\n
Siswono has said President Soeharto agreed to revive the plan
\nto send settlers to Siberut, one of the Mentawai Islands in the
\nIndian Ocean, but underlined the need to pay heed to the
\nenvironmental aspects of the program. (01)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/600000-families-to-be-resettled-by-1999-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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