40% of Riau residents in poverty

40% of Riau residents in poverty

PEKANBARU, Riau: Rich in natural resources and home to the
country's largest privately owned oil and gas company, 40 percent
of Riau's three million residents live below the poverty line,
Governor Saleh Djasit said.

"I am ashamed when people abroad say that Riau is so rich
while in fact our wealth is hollow," said Saleh on Wednesday.

The province is one of Indonesia's major producers of forestry
and agricultural products. It is also home to American-based PT
Caltex Indonesia, which after state-owned PT Pertamina is the
largest oil and gas company in Indonesia.

During the three decades of the Soeharto regime, much of the
money generated by companies in the regions ended up in
Jakarta's coffers.

The 1999 autonomy law aimed to rectify this by allotting a
greater share of the money to the regions.

Saleh said his administration hoped to reduce poverty by
boosting activity in the province's rural economy. To that end,
he said, his office had increased its budget to Rp 100 billion
(about US$11 million) from Rp 70 billion last year.

"We admit that the money we have disbursed has been
insufficient, so we haven't as yet been able to meet the needs of
the people," he said. -- Antara