Private sectors helping out transmigration<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Several hundred private companies have invested
\nabout Rp 9.7 trillion (US$4.4 billion) over the past several
\nyears to convert 3.25 million hectares of idle land into
\nproductive fields for transmigrants, a cabinet minister said.<\/p>\n
Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo said that more
\ncompanies are interested in contributing to the government's
\neffort to redress resettlement problems.<\/p>\n
The transmigration program aims at relocating poor people,
\nmostly farmers, from densely populated islands such as Java,
\nBali, Madura and Lombok to sparsely inhabited islands.<\/p>\n
Siswono made the remarks on Wednesday after he handed over
\ngovernment permits to a group of businessmen who want to invest
\nin transmigration projects.<\/p>\n
The minister pointed out that so far, 449 companies in
\nJakarta, and other regions, have registered in the ministry's
\ngrand plan to turn transmigration sites into independent,
\nprofitable, economic centers.<\/p>\n
Over 140 of the companies have started operation, benefiting
\napproximately 1.5 million families of resettlers in various
\nareas, he said.<\/p>\n
\"The government needs your cooperation in improving the
\nefficiency and productivity of the agriculture sector,\" Siswono
\nsaid. \"This efficiency is needed to boost our agriculture's
\nquality, so that we'll be better able to face the approaching
\nmarket liberalization.\"<\/p>\n
\"In order to improve the welfare of our resettlers, who have
\nonly small plots of land, we need to help them maximize their
\nfarming products,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Siswono said that if every farmer has between two to four
\nhectares of land, which are tilled with sophisticated farming
\ntechniques and modern agribusiness management, the sector's
\nproductivity would increase significantly.<\/p>\n
\"One of various ways to get land is through transmigration
\nprograms,\" he said, adding that this is where the business owners
\ncan help.<\/p>\n
\"Your philosophy should be this: seeking profits while
\npromoting the welfare of the resettlers in cooperation with the
\nministry,\" he said.<\/p>\n
People who leave the overly-crowded Java, Bali, Madura and
\nLombok regions and become non-farming settlers in the less-
\ndensely populated eastern parts of Indonesia are provided with
\n2.5 hectares of land. Farming resettlers are usually given two
\nhectare of land.<\/p>\n
The population in Java is growing by 2.5 million annually, yet
\nthe government is only managing to resettle 250,000 people every
\nyear. (swe)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/private-sectors-helping-out-transmigration-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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