Redress gaps between regions, Soeharto says<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto yesterday called for greater
\nefforts to bridge the gap of development between regions.<\/p>\n
Opening the national meeting of the Ministry of
\nTransmigration, Soeharto said that the eastern part of Indonesia
\ndevelopmentally lags behind the western regions, and that
\nresettlement programs can help redress the situation.<\/p>\n
"We must keep on trying so that development in eastern
\nIndonesia can be accelerated, so that the existing gaps with
\nother areas can be reduced and even eliminated in the future," he
\ntold some 255 participating officials and experts.<\/p>\n
The government has recently decided to establish integrated
\neconomic development centers in 13 provinces in eastern Indonesia
\nto help bridge the development gap between western and eastern
\nprovinces. Experts have pointed out that the gap is caused by,
\namong other things, the eastern regions' smaller population and
\nlack of infrastructure.<\/p>\n
The government plans to accomplish this by speeding up the
\ndevelopment process and attracting private investors through the
\ncenters. It has also prepared three drafts of rulings to be
\nadopted as Presidential decrees, which will be used as a legal
\nbasis for the establishment of the development centers.<\/p>\n
"Eastern Indonesia has great potential to grow rapidly, so
\nthat it can produce development centers ... they should also be
\nthe motor that helps propel development in the surrounding
\nareas," Soeharto said.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, in his report to the President, Minister of
\nTransmigration Siswono Yudohusodo said his office plans to
\nresettle a total of 600,000 families to sparsely populated
\neastern Indonesia from densely populated and disaster-prone areas
\nin Java, Bali and Madura during the current sixth five-year
\ndevelopment plan period.<\/p>\n
By the end of the plan's period in 1999, the government will
\nhave established 1,200 resettlement sites on some 900,000
\nhectares of land. It will have also constructed 350,000 houses
\nwith clean water and public facilities to accommodate the
\nresettlers.<\/p>\n
Of the total resettlers, 350,000 families are government-
\nsponsored, while the rest go on their own initiative, he said.
\nMost of the resettlers are from East Java and chose South
\nSumatra, Riau and Central Sulawesi as their destinations.<\/p>\n
So far, a total of 140,722 families have been resettled over
\nthe past two years. The government has built 277 resettlement
\nsites with 128,469 houses on 300,000 hectares of land, he said.<\/p>\n
Soeharto reminded the meeting that the background of
\nprospective resettlers should be matched with the characteristic
\nof the targeted areas and the pattern of the resettlement
\nprograms.<\/p>\n
The ceremony was also attended by Minister of Forestry
\nDjamaluddin Soeryohadikoesoemo, Minister of Cooperatives Subiakto
\nTjakrawerdaja and Minister of Agrarian Affairs Soni Harsono.<\/p>\n
Soeharto also called for special attention to be given to
\nforest squatters, who are mostly poor farmers. "Improve the
\nwelfare of forest squatters and nomadic farmers ... so they won't
\ndestroy the forest they live in," he said. (swe)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/redress-gaps-between-regions-soeharto-says-1447893297",
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