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."