Brief profile of successful Tolai farmers

Brief profile of successful Tolai farmers

TOLAI, Central Sulawesi (JP): Hard work has transformed Tolai
from a wild jungle into a successful agricultural area. From
morning until dusk Tolai villagers work in the rice fields. Some
have become rich and own cars, and fine houses with satellite
dishes. According to I Wayan Sukarya, the head the Tolai branch
of the Bank Rakyat Indonesia, the money circulating in Tolai
during harvest time is between Rp 60 million and Rp 100 million a
day. Revenues from property and building tax are among the
highest in Central Sulawesi.

Material success has enabled the Tolai people to educate their
children, and many young people have degrees from universities in
Bali, Java, North Sulawesi, or Palu university in the provincial
capital. The following is a brief profile of a number of
successful Tolai farmers:

I Nyoman Suweto, 55, has been Tolai village head for
the past four years and is a successful farmer. In the beginning,
he did not want to lead the village community, but as a pioneer
in opening the Tolai forest, he felt a moral responsibility to
further develop the area.

Soon after his induction as village head, Suweto built a
village hall which is perhaps the most modern and expensive in
Central Sulawesi. Decorated with typical Balinese engravings and
inlaid with glazed floor tiles, the hall cost over Rp 100
million, most of which came straight from Suweto's pocket.

His wealth consists of land, a number of cars, houses, rice-
hull mills and a cinema. He has five wives and eight children.

His first son is Tinus, a new graduate from the Trisakti
school of medicine in Jakarta.

His second child is an economist, the third is a midwife and
another one is still studying in Yogyakarta.

Suweto, a tall and sturdy man, burst out laughing when asked
whether he wanted to marry again.

Sayem, 49, a Javanese, came to Tolai in 1969 with 200 families
consisting of 1,000 people. She owns about 30 hectares of land, a
number of cars, houses, rice-hull mills and shops.

With her husband I Nyoman Wetro, she is now also in trade. Her
three sons and three daughters are studying at the Sam Ratulangie
University in Manado, the National Education University in Bali,
a senior high school in Tolai. Another has set up shop.

I Wayan Ardika, 51, is not a transmigrant. In 1975 he went to
Tolai just to look around and became interested in starting a
business. He is now the biggest rice trader in Tolai.

Many farmers prefer to sell their produce to Wayan than to the
four village cooperatives in Tolai. He supplies an average of
2,000 tons of rice each harvest directly to the Palu logistics
store houses.

He owns a number of trucks and other vehicles necessary for
goods transportation. He also has huge rice fields. He has four
children, two of whom are still studying at the National
Education University in Bali. The other two are still at
elementary and junior high schools.

Apart from those who have become rich and big businesspeople,
there are of course farmers with only the two or three hectares
of rice fields they were given by the government on their
arrival. Among them is Sukadana, 45, who arrived in Tolai in 1970
and has four children. He says, as he feeds his water buffalo in
the rain, that he only owns four hectares of rice fields, with an
average yield of seven to eight tons of rice.

Nevertheless, like Sukadana, Tolai people are not poor. They
are generally well-off and enjoy an above-average income.

These people make Tolai, a drop of Bali that has fallen into
the jungles of Central Sulawesi.

-- Iriandi Ibrahim