Govt, IPB students discuss agribusiness development<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and
\nPoverty Eradication Haryono Suyono has held the first of a
\nplanned series of dialogs with students on how to overcome the
\neconomic crisis.<\/p>\n
A delegation of 17 students from the Bogor Institute of
\nAgriculture (IPB), accompanied by their rector Soleh Solahuddin,
\npresented to Haryono here yesterday their concept of a people-
\nbased agribusiness development program.<\/p>\n
Haryono, accompanied by Minister of Agriculture Justika
\nSjarifudin Baharsjah, said similar discussions would be held with
\nother universities.<\/p>\n
About 100 others attended the meeting, including senior
\nofficials, businesspeople and bankers.<\/p>\n
Ibnu Amin, one of the students, said the meeting was only to
\ndiscuss their agribusiness development concept and should not be
\nconstrued as a response to the government's call for students --
\nafter weeks of continuous campus demonstrations -- to meet with
\nofficials to present their own ideas on how to overcome the
\neconomic crisis.<\/p>\n
\"We (students) have another forum to discuss other issues,\"
\nsaid Ibnu, whose delegation included eight female students
\nwearing Islamic head scarves.<\/p>\n
One of Ibnu's colleagues, Purnomo, said they had thought of
\ninitiating yesterday's dialog after watching a television talk
\nshow aired by private television station Indosiar last week.<\/p>\n
The talk show featured Haryono, non-governmental organization
\nactivist Zaim Saidi and IPB students discussing the economic
\ncrisis. In the program, Haryono invited students to discuss their
\nideas about developing people-based agribusinesses to help the
\npoor survive the crisis.<\/p>\n
From a 15-page paper, Rahmat Pramulya presented his and his
\nfellow students' argument that the agricultural sector remained
\nthe country's best hope to ease the impact of the crisis on the
\npoor.<\/p>\n
\"God willing, we could be as strong as Thailand in facing this
\ncrisis,\" Rahmat said during his 45-minute presentation.<\/p>\n
Responding to the presentation, businessman A.A. Baramuli --
\nwho is also one of the chairmen of the Indonesian Chamber of
\nCommerce -- asked the students to give concrete examples for
\nprojects.<\/p>\n
\"State your target, state where you want to try out the
\nprogram, and the minimum capital needed to make the business
\nrun,\" said Baramuli, who is also a member of the National
\nCommission of Human Rights.<\/p>\n
Regarding funding, Haryono suggested that the students make
\nuse of the existing poverty eradication rolling fund, known as
\nKukesra and Takesra, and another similar rolling fund managed by
\nBank Negara Indonesia under the name Yayasan Sejahtera Mandiri.<\/p>\n
The country's poverty eradication rolling funds total about Rp
\n500 billion, while the Yayasan Sejahtera Madiri fund totals Rp 2
\ntrillion, according to Haryono.<\/p>\n
Haryono and Justika said the government would fully support
\nthe students' program. They asked the students to improve their
\nproposal and \"make it workable\" in a week.<\/p>\n
\"We are racing against time and the seasons when it comes to
\nagricultural matters,\" Justika said.<\/p>\n
Media<\/p>\n
Observers have repeatedly called on government officials and
\nthe Armed Forces to hold dialogs with students, who have been
\ncontinually demonstrating for economic and political reform over
\nthe past two months.<\/p>\n
The Armed Forces has offered to hold such a dialog, but
\nstudents rejected it for various reasons.<\/p>\n
On Monday, though, a group of student leaders met with members
\nof the media and urged them to share their concerns about the
\ndeterioration in the social, economic and political situation,
\nand support their cause through news coverage.<\/p>\n
Student bodies of nine universities known to have been waging
\ndemonstrations critical of the government over the past two weeks
\nmet Monday with members of the media at the Jakarta University
\ncampus in East Jakarta. During the discussion, students cited
\nwhat they described as a decline in the media's interest in their
\ndemonstrations against soaring prices of essential commodities
\nand for economic and political reforms.<\/p>\n
They expressed fear that once the media no longer considered
\nstudent protests newsworthy, coverage of the demonstrations would
\nstop completely.<\/p>\n
The students said reporters had begun treating their
\ndemonstrations as mere numbers and that their crucial messages
\nwere being lost before publication. \"You have not given a voice
\nto our messages,\" one student complained.<\/p>\n
\"Your (shortcomings) in your reports of our activities show
\nthat there's no such thing as freedom of the press,\" said another
\nstudent, adding that he understood the pressure put on the
\nIndonesian media by those in power.<\/p>\n
However, he said, the media needed to also fight for its
\nfreedom by supporting the students' cause.<\/p>\n
The universities represented in the meeting included August 17
\nUniversity, Jayabaya University, Dr. Moestopo University, Jakarta
\nTeachers' Training Institute, Atma Jaya University, Veteran
\nUniversity, YARSI Medical Institute and the University of
\nIndonesia. (aan\/swe)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-ipb-students-discuss-agribusiness-development-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}