E. Kalimantan could become rebellious, warns legislator

E. Kalimantan could become rebellious, warns legislator

JAKARTA (JP): The natural resource-rich province of East
Kalimantan could turn rebellious like Aceh and Irian Jaya if the
central government continues to neglect development in the area,
a local legislator warned.

Deputy speaker of the East Kalimantan provincial legislative
council Khairul Fuad said that, so far, local people had acted
politely in demanding a larger share from locally-generated
revenues.

Khairul reckoned that every year, East Kalimantan contributes
Rp 70 trillion to the state coffers. This year, he said, the
province will only receive Rp 6.7 trillion from the state budget.

East Kalimantan is rich in mining resources. Major
multinational companies operating there include state-owned oil
company Pertamina's profit-sharing partners Expan, Vico, Total
Indonesie and Unocal; gold-mining company PT Kelian Equatorial
Mining, liquefied natural gas firm Badak LNG and fertilizer
producer PT Pupuk Kaltim.

"East Kalimantan wants a bigger portion of the cake. The
financial balance between the central and local government must
be improved for the sake of fairness," he said, as quoted by
Antara news agency.

"It would make sense if East Kalimantan could receive 60
percent, or about Rp 42 trillion, of locally generated revenues.
And the rest could go to other provinces as development funds."

Only with that share could East Kalimantan catch up in terms
of development, especially involving infrastructure, human
resources and agriculture, in more affluent provinces, he added.

Perceived injustice has given rise to separatist rebellions in
natural resource-rich Aceh and Irian Jaya. Some activists in Riau
have also voiced their demand for independence.

"We have been left in a state of neglect for years, even
though we are the second largest foreign exchange earner after
Riau," Khairul said.

The present government, he said, also means to sideline East
Kalimantan as is obvious in its policy, in which densely
populated provinces receive more from the budget than less
populated areas.

"This means that the bulk of the budget from the central
government will still go to Java," Khairul said.