Gaining mutual trust through community development<\/p>\n
Several oil and gas companies operating in remote areas in
\nIndonesia have given assurances regarding their commitment to
\nassisting the government to improve the welfare of the people
\nthrough community development programs.<\/p>\n
"We always involve the stakeholders in designing and
\nimplementing our community development projects because it is the
\nlocal people who know exactly what they really need," said US-
\nbased oil company PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia's (CPI) corporate
\ncommunications manager Harry Bustaman.<\/p>\n
Caltex and several other oil and gas companies, including BP
\nIndonesia, PT Exspan Nusantara, state-owned PT Perusahaan Gas
\nNegara (PGN) and PT Unocal Indonesia consider partnerships in
\ncarrying out community development projects the key to success of
\ntheir programs because through partnership all the parties
\ninvolved can gain mutual trust.<\/p>\n
For some long-term projects, community involvement starts with
\nactivities at the planning stage, such as conducting surveys, and
\nensuring that the planned programs can run effectively and meet
\nthe right targets.<\/p>\n
Caltex, for instance, involved several students of the Bandung
\nInstitute of Technology (ITB) and Riau University (UNRI) in
\nconducting a survey on the livelihoods of people living in
\ndensely-packed slum areas in Meranti Pandak village, located not
\nfar from Caltex's operating site before the company started its
\nMeranti Pandak housing project.<\/p>\n
Based on the survey, Caltex renovated many houses there and
\ntransformed each of them into two-story homes after learning that
\nmost of the people in the village earned additional income by
\nrenting out rooms. "Now, they (the householders) can use their
\nhomes not only as their residences but also for earning a
\nliving," he said.<\/p>\n
Even though natural resource-based companies all are
\ndetermined to grow together with local communities, they differ
\nin the CD activities, depending on where the interests of the
\nrespective company and the community interact.<\/p>\n
Since its operations in Riau province began in the 1950s,
\nCaltex has designed and implemented lots of CD projects, with the
\nconstruction of schools, roads and bridges being the top priority
\nin the earlier years of its presence. "Local people's need for a
\nsenior high school was met by Caltex in 1956 when it built the
\nPekanbaru Senior High School (SMA)," Harry of Caltex said.<\/p>\n
In cooperation with the local administration, Caltex has also
\nbuilt a polytechnic college in Riau to help produce graduates who
\nare ready to work. "Since Riau has evolved into an industrial
\narea, the demand for graduates who are ready to work has been on
\nthe rise," he noted.<\/p>\n
Other Caltex's projects that benefit local people include
\nproviding training on agriculture and agribusiness, cattle
\nbreeding, fishing and weaving. "Thus, by raising local people's
\nstandards of living, including their education, health and
\nwelfare levels through CD programs, Caltex gains the trust of the
\nlocal community," he added.<\/p>\n
Like Caltex, PGN and PT Unocal Indonesia also see the
\ninvolvement of stakeholders and local administrations as playing
\nan important role in running CD projects successfully.<\/p>\n
PGN's community development program dates back to 1996 when
\nthe company started to construct a natural gas transmission
\npipeline in Grissik, South Sumatera.<\/p>\n
The company faces a great challenge as it has to serve lots of
\nvillages affected by its pipelines, which run for many
\nkilometers. For instance, its Grissik-Sakernan-Batam-Singapore
\ninternational gas transmission pipeline, which was completed in
\nAugust of this year, is 470 kilometers in length and affects
\nnearly 50 villages.<\/p>\n
Despite the challenge, the PGN community development team has
\nmanaged to run its programs well. The success of its programs is
\nprimarily due to the fact that the company allows representatives
\nof the local community in each of the affected village to propose
\nprograms based on their real needs, according to PGN's senior
\ncommunity development advisor Liza Soenar Windarti.<\/p>\n
Liza said that PGN provides funds or grants to finance the
\nproposed projects. However, the affected villages are required to
\nset up teams before starting out on any PGN-financed programs.<\/p>\n
"These teams are responsible for managing the funds for the
\ncommunity project," she said.<\/p>\n
The team members are entitled to be paid monthly honoraria in
\nreturn for their time and service. "And this has turned out to be
\nan effective means of implementing projects financed by PGN," she
\nsaid, adding that six-months was the average length of a
\ncommunity development project.<\/p>\n
Among the public facilities constructed under PGN's CD
\nprograms in different villages are irrigation networks, schools,
\nmosques, village auditoriums and public health centers.<\/p>\n
In its efforts to strengthen the economies of local
\ncommunities, PGN also provides small enterprises in the affected
\nvillages with access to low-interest loans through its small
\nenterprise and cooperatives development (PUKK) program.<\/p>\n
Liza said that many people running small businesses had taken
\nadvantage of these loans since 1995 to develop their businesses.
\nAs of 2003, PGN has channeled some Rp 41 billion (about US$4.8
\nmillion) in loans, she said.<\/p>\n
People (villagers) from the affected villages voluntarily take
\npart in guarding the constructed pipelines thanks to the CD
\nprograms, Liza remarked.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, PT Unocal Indonesia said that its corporate social
\nresponsibility (CSR) programs focused on education, health and
\nthe environment because, based on field studies, these three
\nareas were the ones that needed to be prioritized.<\/p>\n
"With the CSR program in place since 1999, we want to become
\npart of the local community in areas where we operate and wish to
\nraise the welfare of the community in a broader sense," said PT
\nUnocal Indonesia's corporate communication and corporate
\nresponsibility manager Tatang Sutanto.<\/p>\n
Therefore, contributions to the community are not confined to
\nthe funding arena but include programs with long-term effects
\nthat are beneficial to local communities, such as providing
\ntraining in relevant fields like agriculture, cattle breeding and
\nfishing, he said.<\/p>\n
"The programs have been successful due to our partnerships
\nwith all those involved, such as local administrations, non-
\ngovernmental organizations (NGOs) and community empowerment
\norganizations (LPM)," he noted.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/gaining-mutual-trust-through-community-development-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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