Transmigration program to put horse in front of cart<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government's transmigration program will now
\nconcentrate on building facilities at resettlement sites in order
\nto lure people to move.<\/p>\n
\"We'll provide the sugar, let the ants reach for it,\" Minister
\nof Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo told reporters yesterday,
\nreciting a popular Indonesian proverbs \"Where there is sugar,
\nthere are ants.\"<\/p>\n
\"We will still help with moving the people but this is not the
\npriority,\" Siswono said after opening a working conference at his
\nministry.<\/p>\n
The private business sector is also expected to join in this
\nendeavor, he said.<\/p>\n
The government will build the infrastructures necessary to
\ndevelop new \"growth centers\" outside of Java, Sumatra and Bali,
\nhe said. By doing this, these centers should attract
\nentrepreneurs, investors and workers to move out of densely
\npopulated areas, he added.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Transmigration will cooperate with the
\nMinistry of Public Works to build roads and bridges linking
\nisolated areas in Sulawesi, Siswono said citing an example of an
\non-going project.<\/p>\n
Many of the new resettlement areas in the future will also be
\ntied to the development of plantations, timber estates, fisheries
\nprojects and even industry.<\/p>\n
All of these will require the participation of private
\ncompanies, which will provide settlers with seedlings, jobs and
\nassistance in marketing their produce, he added.<\/p>\n
There are more than 50 large-scale resettlement sites being
\nopened in cooperation with private companies, he said.<\/p>\n
In the past, the government's strategy had been focused more
\non recruiting and transporting people. Since the program was
\ntargeted at the poor, including landless farmers and displaced
\nfarm laborers, the program had earned a reputation as a
\ndiscriminatory means to get them off the populous islands.<\/p>\n
The government however is seeking to improve the program's
\nimage and hopes to recruit more enterprising and educated people
\ninto the program.<\/p>\n
Drawback<\/p>\n
The transmigration program in the 1993\/94 fiscal year, just
\nmissed its target, sending 49,260 families to the outer islands.
\nThe target was 50,000 families.<\/p>\n
During the same year, the government helped resettle 6,026
\nfamilies under the spontaneous transmigration program, for those
\nwho did not depend too much on government's assistance.<\/p>\n
One major drawback of the program until now is the poor
\neducational background of the transmigrants. Most have only a
\nprimary education.<\/p>\n
As part of the campaign to lure more people on Java and Bali
\nto resettle, the ministry plans to hold a seminar next week
\nbringing sociologists to discuss ways to make the sedentary
\nJavanese and Balinese more outgoing and adventurous.<\/p>\n
Siswono yesterday also discussed with President Soeharto the
\npreparations for the president's visit to Irian Jaya next month
\nto attend the first grand rice harvest at a transmigration camp
\nin Merauke, Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
Irian Jaya, a thinly populated province in eastern Indonesia,
\nis one of the major targets of the transmigration program.<\/p>\n
This year, it is expected to take in 8,000 families. (prs)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/transmigration-program-to-put-horse-in-front-of-cart-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }