An independent Riau or a more just one?

An independent Riau or a more just one?

By Emmy Fitri

PEKANBARU, Riau (JP): How does one gauge true sentiments for
independence?

That may be the crucial issue facing the situation in Riau.

If you talk to self-proclaimed independence leaders, they
would say that people here are quietly clamoring for a separation
from the republic.

But talk to official leaders of the province, and they would
say that this is more a cry against injustice.

Unlike in Aceh, for example, you do not see mass public
rallies shouting for independence or white bandanas scribbled
with the words "referendum".

There is no widescale threat of people tearing down the red-
and-white national flag, replacing it with an independent Riau
flag.

But talk to Tabrani Rab, the self-declared president of a
sovereign Riau, and he will swear that the 4.3 million people in
the "new state" endorse the March 15 proclamation of independent
Riau.

"The feelings are carefully concealed, the reaction you get
depends on who is asking the people," said Tabrani, who is a lung
disease specialist.

"If I come to workers' camps at night, they yell freedom and
nothing else."

He brushes aside the dismissive looks which view the
gentleness of the outward pouring for independence as a gauge of
determining the level of support for the movement.

Top provincial administration officials in Riau acknowledge
that there is severe injustice due to past policies, particularly
in the economic sphere, but people should not mistake that with
an all out desire for independence.

"I don't hear people chanting freedom or federation in front
of my office," Pekanbaru Mayor Oesman Effendi Apan said.

"Students once demanded freedom and federalism, which was
unrealistic. So it is gradually subduing now," he added.

Riau Governor Saleh Djasit took a more pragmatic view, saying
it really came down to economics.

He acknowledged the mood of discontent but expressed his
belief that what students and local figures wanted was a fairer
share of the province's abundant income.

He pointed out that everyone could see that most of the
province's riches were being reaped by the central government
while development in the province remained sluggish.

Most demands in the end would not progress further than a
drastic change for a federalistic state, Saleh said.

The key would be the sincerity of the central government in
carrying out its promises and division of wealth.

"To solve a problem without any compromise will never work.
The government has endorsed laws on this matter and they promised
to make it as fair as possible so we will wait for this goodwill
to be implemented here," Saleh, an army brigadier general, said.

The key laws he is referring to are Laws No. 22/1999 and No.
25/1999 on Regional Autonomy and the fiscal balance between the
central and provincial governments.

Love

Saleh expressed faith that people in the province still
believed in the ideals of an Indonesian unitary state.

"Riau people love peace, and they don't like drastic changes
in their relatively peaceful lives as Indonesians. They don't
want anything more than fair treatment," the governor said.

"As long as the government proves their goodwill, we can
accept any decision from the central government."

Once again he pointed out that the problem was in economic
disparity, the kind of injustice which people can see in their
daily lives.

He noted that it was troubling to see people in parts of the
province living far below the poverty line in a place "where oil
is underneath and above the ground".

An inventory of Riau's assets lists oil, a huge mining
industry, hundreds of hectares of palm plantations and a
strategic seaport as among the province's abundance.

But the sight of so many semipermanent houses in the
provincial capital leads to the questions of "where did it all
go?"

Data from the provincial administration shows that the number
of people living below the poverty line has now increased from
33.6 percent of the total population in 1998 to 42 percent.

"The distribution of income from our natural products in the
province is certainly not what we expected," Saleh said.

"Our province can submit a total regional revenue of Rp 59.14
trillion from petroleum, palm oil and taxes, but all of it goes
to Jakarta (the central government) and for that we only get Rp 1
trillion annually."

Saleh further contended that despite the presence of so many
multinational firms involved in joint ventures, the provincial
government was often ostracized as the companies dealt directly
with the central government.

He expressed a wish to see the provincial administration be
delegated with more authority to deal with foreign investors.

"Our human resources may become better developed if they have
more chances for better education and vacancies in the big
companies operating here," he said.

Sometimes the landscape can be stricken as long lines of oil
pipes pass in front of simple homes eking out a meager living.

"For years, millions of barrels of oil have been exploited
from our land and only a drop is sent back to us," said Azlaini
Agus, the coordinator of the Riau People Reform Movement.

"Our brothers and sisters sometimes eat leftover food from
their rich neighbors in the Caltex housing complex."