1m Indonesians still isolated

BENGKULU, Bengkulu: More than one million Indonesians still live in isolation, the Home Ministry's Director General for Regional Development Feisal Tamin said over the weekend.

An estimated 1.05 million live in isolation in 295 locations spread throughout 18 provinces. Most of them belong to remote tribes who are difficult to reach.

Governor Adjis Ahmad said that in Bengkulu 1,700 people live in the distant island of Enggano. "This area is considered isolated because it can only be reached by sea and even that takes about 10 days."