Resettlement drive lacks coordination<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo
\nordered his officials yesterday to get their act together, saying
\nthat many of the errors made in the government's resettlement
\nprogram could be put down to poor coordination.<\/p>\n
Siswono said many settlers had fallen victim to the lack of
\ncoordination among the government agencies handling the
\ntransmigration programs.<\/p>\n
There have been cases, he said, in which settlers had arrived
\nat their destination to find that the land allotted to them was
\nnot ready. This had occurred in spite of the fact that the
\nsettlers had received the final go-ahead from the local ministry
\noffice to make the move, he said.<\/p>\n
He said timing was often poor, with settlers arriving after
\nthe planting season, so that they had virtually nothing to do
\nuntil the next season.<\/p>\n
Such incidents served to dampen the settlers' spirits, the
\nminister said during a meeting with 129 top ministry officials.
\nThe proper role of the ministry, he said, was to "help them build
\ntheir dreams" of a better future.<\/p>\n
He also called for better coordination with provincial
\ngovernments regarding the selection of land for settlers.<\/p>\n
The transmigration program calls for the resettlement of
\nthousands of families from Java and Bali, both already regarded
\nas overcrowded, to Indonesia's less densely populated islands,
\nsuch as Sumatra, Kalimantan and Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
The government plans to resettle 77,000 families in the
\ncurrent 1995\/1996 fiscal year, which began on April 1. In
\n1994\/1995, the government resettled 68,304 families, including
\n18,904 who joined the "self-reliant" transmigration program as
\nopposed to the one that is fully supported by the government.<\/p>\n
Siswono said officials of the ministry should conduct more
\nfield trips to find out the real conditions in the transmigration
\nsites.<\/p>\n
He said there should be better communication between
\ntransmigration officials in the sending provinces and those in
\nthe destination provinces.<\/p>\n
There had been cases of letters of enquiry from one office to
\nanother going unanswered for six months, he said.<\/p>\n
The minister called for the exercise of greater control by
\nofficials over the way in which certain facilities, such as land
\nand houses, were parceled out among the settlers.<\/p>\n
"There have been cases when these facilities have fallen into
\nthe hands of relatives of the local village heads, who already
\nhad property," he said.<\/p>\n
Siswono urged regional transmigration officials to stop the
\npractice of burning down forests to clear land for settlement
\nsites, describing it as "uncivilized."<\/p>\n
Such burning was blamed for some of the brushfires that sent
\nthick smog over most of Kalimantan and neighboring Malaysia and
\nSingapore last year.<\/p>\n
The minister suggested that trees be felled and processed into
\nchips which could then be sold to pulp factories.<\/p>\n
Siswono conferred awards to three provincial heads of the
\nministry in recognition of their successful management of their
\nparts of the transmigration program. Jambi came first in the
\ncategory of more than 3,000 families last year, Maluku won in the
\n1,000 to 3,000 category, while Lampung was honored in the
\ncategory for resettlement of less than 1,000 families. (anr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/resettlement-drive-lacks-coordination-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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