Government vows to accelerate Irian development

Government vows to accelerate Irian development

JAKARTA (JP): The government would never victimize Irian
Jaya's indigenous population in its effort to develop the
country's easternmost province, President Soeharto said
yesterday.

He said the government would accelerate Irian Jaya's
development because the province was far behind Indonesia's other
provinces. He also promised to fully involve local people in the
development policy-making process.

"The ongoing development efforts will not cause suffering for
the people. No single person will be neglected or left behind,"
Soeharto promised in a teleconference from the presidential Bina
Graha office with Irian Jaya villagers in Jayapura.

The President chaired the third plenary meeting of the Eastern
Development Council yesterday before talking with the villagers.

The council was formed in 1993 by Soeharto, with State
Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie as its executive
chairman.

During the teleconference, Soeharto also symbolically
inaugurated the Biak Integrated Economic Development Zone
(Kapet).

Kapet is made up of parts of the Biak Numfor, Paniai, Yapen
Waropen, Manokwari and Mimika districts. Kapet will focus its
development activities on the tourist, industrial, fisheries,
mining and agricultural sectors.

Soeharto also inaugurated a 550-kilometer-long highway
connecting Jayapura and Wamena, and the Mamberamo and Maroo
bridges.

"You (tribal chiefs) are expected to promote the benefits of
development so there will be no more fear that development would
only create suffering for the people," he said.

Experts have noted that the Irianese have often been treated
by the government merely as the object, rather than participants,
of development. Poorly educated local people, some with
lifestyles similar to their ancestors in the stone age, are often
unable to compete with migrants, mostly from Java.

Clashes between indigenous people and migrants have often been
unavoidable.

During the teleconference, the head of the Biak Economic Zone,
Brig. Gen. Frans de Wana, asked the President to order Garuda
Indonesia to reopen the Jakarta-Biak-Honolulu air route.

Frans pointed out that Biak's tourist industry had greatly
benefited from the route's stopover in the province.

"I fully support your idea and will try to make it a reality,"
Soeharto answered.

Rains

Irian Jaya grabbed both domestic and international attention
last year when the prolonged dry season caused hundreds of deaths
in some of its most severely affected regions.

However, as of Monday, it was reported that heavy rains which
began earlier this month have brought relief for Jayawijaya, the
most severely affected regency, enabling locals to till their
land again.

The director of the local disaster management command post in
the regency's capital of Wamena, A. Kohar, told The Jakarta Post
by telephone Monday that conditions for locals had begun to
improve.

"Thanks to the rain and all the relief efforts, the villagers
have regained the hope and strength to cultivate their land,"
Kohar said.

He said the command post had distributed food and medical
supplies sent by the central government and donors in Jakarta.

As of Jan. 8, more than Rp 1.5 billion (US$200,000) in
donations had been channeled into the command post's bank account
for the relief effort.

The money was used to buy rice from the local logistics agency
and transport it to villages, he said.

"We have only a few tons of rice left to distribute to
villagers, so we need to buy some more."

According to officials, 447 of the district's 447,000 people
died of drought-related illnesses and malnutrition last year. The
Puncak Jaya, Merauke and Mimika regencies were also affected by
the drought which was believed to have been aggravated by the El
Nio weather phenomenon.

Twenty-four people died in Puncak Jaya and 82 in Merauke. In
Mimika, at least 137 have reportedly died of malaria.

Efforts to help the villagers were often hampered by difficult
terrain, bad weather and the absence of ground transportation.
Many of the stricken areas are isolated and could only be reached
by air transportation.

The government has allocated Rp 262 billion for relief efforts
spanning from December 1997 to March 1998 to the drought-stricken
areas. (prb/aan)