Lack of infrastructure, skilled workers hamper remote regions<\/p>\n
Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali<\/p>\n
Toli-Toli and Nabire, remote regencies in Central Sulawesi and
\nPapua respectively, lack infrastructure and qualified human
\nresources to develop their abundant natural resources and
\ncultivate democracy as required by the regional autonomy law.<\/p>\n
The two regencies are typical of hundreds of remote regencies
\nthat are rich in natural resources.<\/p>\n
Nabire, with a population of 116,357, has huge potential in
\nagriculture, forestry, mining and marine resources but still
\nfaces numerous hurdles in implementing autonomy due to a dearth
\nof infrastructure and qualified human resources.<\/p>\n
Nabire Regent Anselmus Petrus Youw said at an exposition on
\nregional autonomy here on Thursday that the regency depended
\nheavily on traditional transportation, as well as on missionaries
\nwho operate small planes to reach remote areas in the regency.<\/p>\n
He said the central government had granted special autonomy to
\nPapua and allotted the province a bigger share of proceeds from
\nnatural resources, but most indigenous people had yet to
\nunderstand what special autonomy was.<\/p>\n
"We have pressed the central government and provincial
\nadministration to speed up the development of sea and land
\ntransportation to end the regency's isolation and to accelerate
\ndevelopment in all sectors in the regency," he said.<\/p>\n
He said he had placed priority on development in health,
\neducation and transportation to help the regency catch up with
\ndeveloped regencies.<\/p>\n
Marthen Waibusi, chairman of Nabire's expo delegation,
\ninsisted that Nabire needed more funds to develop its human
\nresources, infrastructure and natural resources.<\/p>\n
"We have a 10-year Kenyang (Full and Nutritious), Sehat
\n(Healthy) and Pintar (Smart) Program that ends in 2010," he said,
\nadding that by then the regency's human resource would be better
\nable to manage their own resources.<\/p>\n
"It is a transitional period, and we still have to learn a lot
\nabout how to manage our abundant resources," he said.<\/p>\n
Total plantation land in Nabire covers 69,202 hectares
\nconsisting of 4,771 hectares (4 percent of the total) in small-
\nscale plantations and 64,521 hectares in large-scale plantations.<\/p>\n
Anselmus said that in the plantation subsector, the regency
\nproduced valuable commodities such cacao, coconuts, coffee,
\ncloves, kapok, cinnamon, cashew nuts, pepper, vanilla and
\nsugarcane. Total production from these commodities reach a total
\nof 1,458 tons.<\/p>\n
The regency also has enormous potential in marine and fishery,
\nwith 690,750 hectares of sea area, more than 139,300 hectares of
\nswampy land and 113,975 hectares of river areas.<\/p>\n
The annual potential of fish production is estimated at 1,1
\nmillion tons. The maximum sustainable yield from the sea is 5,400
\ntons with a utilization rate of only 2.26 percent.<\/p>\n
Fishpond production is 20,000 tons annually with a utilization
\nrate of only 19.44 percent and freshwater cultivation of 17,241
\ntons with a utility rate of only 5.26 percent. The production of
\nfish is targeted to meet the demands of the domestic market as
\nwell as the export market to Japan, Singapore, the United States
\nand other countries.<\/p>\n
Like other regencies in Papua, Nabire has extremely
\nunexploited mining deposits throughout its subdistricts such as
\nin Yaur (quartz sand, granite and marble), Napan (gold), Nabire
\n(gold), zinc, kaolin, gold and copper.<\/p>\n
In addition, Nabire also has a number of big rivers such as
\nSiriwo, Cemara, Otowa and Wanagar rivers that can be used to
\ngenerate enough electricity to meet the power demand in the
\nprovince.<\/p>\n
Contribution from the forestry sector reaches around Rp 1.8
\nbillion resulting from profit of forestry resources and Rp 733
\nmillion from the reforestation fund.<\/p>\n
"The regency is open for investment opportunities, especially
\nfor foreign investors in the plantation and mining sectors," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, M. Yunus Hamid, head of the trade and industry
\noffice in Toli-Toli regency, explained that although the regency
\nwas an isolated area, it had a large variety of plantation and
\nforestry resources that had yet to be managed and utilized
\noptimally.<\/p>\n
"Currently, Toli-Toli is the largest producer of cloves in
\nSulawesi, but the sharp price fluctuation has caused our farmers
\ngreat losses," he said.<\/p>\n
The regency produced 3,440,770 tons of cloves in 2001. In the
\nlast few years, the price of cloves was Rp 80,000 per kilogram,
\nbut has since dropped to Rp 20,000 per kilogram because of the
\nflood of cloves imported from abroad by cigarette companies in
\nJava, he said.<\/p>\n
The regency also has other profitable commodities including
\ncoconut wood, rattan and other forestry products.<\/p>\n
"But, we don't have enough infrastructure to support our
\nindustry. We can only send raw material of lower value to areas
\nin Java, Bali and some overseas countries," he said.<\/p>\n
Lack of transportation facilities including roads and harbors,
\nas well as processing plants are the main obstacles presently
\nfaced by Toli-Toli in developing its natural resources.<\/p>\n
"I really hope that through the expo, we can attract more
\ninvestors to our regency so that we can also improve the welfare
\nof our people," he said.<\/p>",
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