Habibie gives basic needs top priority<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie has ordered the country's
\n27 provincial governors to prioritize the procurement of basic
\nessentials for the people in their budgetary planning.<\/p>\n
The President warned the governors not to squander their
\nlimited budgets on reaching physical development targets, but to
\ninstead use remaining funds to reduce suffering in their
\nrespective provinces.<\/p>\n
\"Save your budgets, and under no circumstances should budgets
\nbe allocated for building renovations or for constructing new
\nroads,\" Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid quoted Habibie as
\ntelling the governors during a two-hour meeting in the Bina Graha
\npresidential office yesterday.<\/p>\n
Yesterday's meeting was attended by 26 of Indonesia's 27
\nprovincial governors, the solitary absentee being East Timor
\nGovernor Jose Abilio Soares. There was no explanation for his
\nabsence.<\/p>\n
According to Syarwan, income from local taxes in all the
\nprovinces was likely to drop by at least 50 percent this year,
\nwhile on the other hand the central government was also facing
\nsevere budgetary constraints.<\/p>\n
The country's economy is expected to contract by 10 percent
\nthis year and the inflation rate could hit 80 percent.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Manpower has announced that unemployment this
\nyear is expected to hit 15.4 million -- 17.1 percent of the
\ncountry's 90 million workforce.<\/p>\n
Syarwan also said yesterday that Habibie intended to provide a
\nRp 1,000 government subsidy for each kilogram of rice bought by a
\nselected seven million needy people, 70 percent of whom would be
\nfrom Central and East Java.<\/p>\n
However, the criteria for selecting these people is extremely
\nvague and there has been no mention of for how long the subsidy
\nwill be kept in place. Syarwan himself did not elaborate on the
\nplan or how it would be implemented.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, he asked governors to ensure that the subsidized
\nrice was not misappropriated and that only those who were really
\nin need benefited from the scheme.<\/p>\n
\"The government's good intentions are not to be badly
\nimplemented,\" Syarwan quoted Habibie as saying.<\/p>\n
The President also briefed the governors on the new
\ngovernment's program of reform and told them to conduct their day
\nto day business in the same spirit.<\/p>\n
He asked them to be more sensitive when listening to the
\ndemands of the people and to try to discover the truth behind any
\nallegations of abuse.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot close our eyes to their demands, but we also cannot
\ntake arbitrary measures just because of their demands without
\nfirst making prior checks,\" Syarwan noted. (prb)<\/p>",
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