CRP approves community development

CRP approves community development

JAKARTA (JP): The Community Recovery Program (CRP), a non-
governmental organization entrusted with the distribution of a
safety net fund provided by foreign donors, has approved 136
community development projects worth Rp 15 billion in 19
provinces, chairman Emil Salim said on Monday.

"Out of the 136 projects run by non-government organizations,
110 of the projects have met requirements ... while the remaining
26 projects have to wait for further appraisals," Emil said.

The projects were approved between September and December last
year, he said in a media briefing on CRP's first quarter report.

CRP was established by a number of non-governmental
organizations and community organizations to help provide the
neediest citizens with food, basic social services and job
opportunities.

Among the donors to the program are the United Nations
Development Program, the British Department for International
Development and the New Zealand government.

The projects funded by the program have shown "amazing"
achievements, Emil said, adding that the projects indicated that
the program was able to help "empower" the needy "to lift
themselves out of the crisis".

He cited a job creation project in Yogyakarta, in which at
least 120 people were producing fertilizer from household waste
through the assistance of a some Rp 148 million loan.

The produced fertilizer is sold to residential estates and
farmers, enabling the project to develop into a profitable,
small-scale business, Emil, a former state minister of
environment, said.

CRP executive director Sri Pamoedjo Rahardjo noted that as of
February, Rp 4.5 billion from the total allocated budget of Rp 15
billion had been distributed.

CRP received 3,515 project proposals this year. The program
requires an estimated US$18 million to run all of the projects.

"We hope to realize at least half of the proposals ... we've
just been informed that the Netherlands will give us a grant of
$2.5 million," Sri said, adding that CRP had established a
network of 4,977 organizations and community groups.

Meanwhile, a preliminary report from a fact-finding team of
Southeast Asian experts observing food security here said that
"food aid was further enriching corruption".

The team, chaired by researcher Walden Bello, is comprised of
members of the Southeast Asian Food Security and Fair Trade
Council.

Ten members of the team toured West Java, Yogyakarta, Solo,
Pacitan, Rembang in Central Java, East Kalimantan, East Nusa
Tenggara and East Timor from Jan. 25 to Feb. 4.

"Food aid is sold freely or siphoned off, making local elites
even richer," the report said. There were also instances where
food aid "simply disappeared", according to the report.

The team reported that in East Kalimantan, the intended
monthly 50 kilograms of food aid per family was not reaching the
needy.

Aid from a private international organization, Care
International, "had 'leaked' before it reached the needy
families", who often received less than 50 kgs, Riza V. Tjahjadi,
the coordinator of Pesticide Action Network Indonesia, told The
Jakarta Post on Monday. The organization requested the fact-
finding mission.

Members of the team also met with officials, including
Minister of Food and Horticulture A.M. Saefuddin, who welcomed
the mission, Riza said.

The team's report also quoted executives from the World Food
Program (WFP) as telling the team that food aid was "a form of
social pacification".

The report said that the WFP admitted to overestimating
Indonesia's need when it imported about 3.4 million tons of rice,
but since the food aid had already been sent to the country the
aid was redirected to jobless urban people. The government "saw
this as the best opportunity to keep stomachs full" ahead of the
June election, according to the report.

The report also said that rather than food aid, the greater
need was for jobs.

The report warned of the "self-serving interests" of donors
who provided food aid, adding to the team's argument that jobs
for the hungry were more vital than food aid.

The team's preliminary findings were conveyed last week in
Kuala Lumpur during a conference on food security. A complete
report is expected in April, Riza said. (anr/edt)