Discrimination blamed for ethnic conflicts

Discrimination blamed for ethnic conflicts

JAKARTA (JP): Discriminative government practices have been
one of the major causes of tension among ethnic groups because
one group has often been favored over another.

Sofian Effendi, secretary-general of the National Research
Council, said public administration had diverged from its
official function of giving equal service and benefits to all
citizens regardless of race or social standing.

Without specifically elaborating on the reasons, he pointed
out that entrepreneurs of Chinese descent were often favored in
such practices in the past.

While Indonesians of Chinese descent makeup only of 4 percent
of the population, they are perceived to dominate commercial
activity.

He claimed that during the 30 years of the New Order
administration, only between 5 percent to 6 percent of the Rp 300
trillion in development funds were distributed to develop small-
scale enterprises.

The rest, he said quoting a recent report of the National
Development Planning Board, went to about 200 big companies,
dominated by those of Chinese descent.

"A majority of indigenous people have the strong impression
that the New Order's development policy has benefited the ethnic
Chinese and this was a trigger factor of the May 13 to 15 riots,"
he said during a speech at a graduation ceremony at the state-run
Public Administration Institute here on Saturday.

A bloody conflict in West Kalimantan last year between local
Dayak tribes and transmigrants from Madura was also triggered by
a perception that the Madura people enjoyed more privileges from
the development program policy in the province than the local
people.

He said the government should, through public administration,
make a serious and systematic endeavor to curb discriminative
treatment to help prevent anymore ethnic conflicts in the future.

Sofian suggested three alternative measures: the first
involves providing preferential treatment to important positions
for ethnic groups who have been ostracized by the administration.

The second alternative would leave the implementation of
development programs to market mechanisms and let people compete
between themselves.

"However, this alternative can be applied only if the
government has a high commitment to universal values on
fairness," he said as quoted by Antara.

The third alternative would be to recruit officials in public
administration which can represent all ethnic groups to create a
power balance and even wealth distribution. (rms)