Govt, IPB students discuss agribusiness development
JAKARTA (JP): Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and Poverty Eradication Haryono Suyono has held the first of a planned series of dialogs with students on how to overcome the economic crisis.
A delegation of 17 students from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), accompanied by their rector Soleh Solahuddin, presented to Haryono here yesterday their concept of a people- based agribusiness development program.
Haryono, accompanied by Minister of Agriculture Justika Sjarifudin Baharsjah, said similar discussions would be held with other universities.
About 100 others attended the meeting, including senior officials, businesspeople and bankers.
Ibnu Amin, one of the students, said the meeting was only to discuss their agribusiness development concept and should not be construed as a response to the government's call for students -- after weeks of continuous campus demonstrations -- to meet with officials to present their own ideas on how to overcome the economic crisis.
"We (students) have another forum to discuss other issues," said Ibnu, whose delegation included eight female students wearing Islamic head scarves.
One of Ibnu's colleagues, Purnomo, said they had thought of initiating yesterday's dialog after watching a television talk show aired by private television station Indosiar last week.
The talk show featured Haryono, non-governmental organization activist Zaim Saidi and IPB students discussing the economic crisis. In the program, Haryono invited students to discuss their ideas about developing people-based agribusinesses to help the poor survive the crisis.
From a 15-page paper, Rahmat Pramulya presented his and his fellow students' argument that the agricultural sector remained the country's best hope to ease the impact of the crisis on the poor.
"God willing, we could be as strong as Thailand in facing this crisis," Rahmat said during his 45-minute presentation.
Responding to the presentation, businessman A.A. Baramuli -- who is also one of the chairmen of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce -- asked the students to give concrete examples for projects.
"State your target, state where you want to try out the program, and the minimum capital needed to make the business run," said Baramuli, who is also a member of the National Commission of Human Rights.
Regarding funding, Haryono suggested that the students make use of the existing poverty eradication rolling fund, known as Kukesra and Takesra, and another similar rolling fund managed by Bank Negara Indonesia under the name Yayasan Sejahtera Mandiri.
The country's poverty eradication rolling funds total about Rp 500 billion, while the Yayasan Sejahtera Madiri fund totals Rp 2 trillion, according to Haryono.
Haryono and Justika said the government would fully support the students' program. They asked the students to improve their proposal and "make it workable" in a week.
"We are racing against time and the seasons when it comes to agricultural matters," Justika said.
Media
Observers have repeatedly called on government officials and the Armed Forces to hold dialogs with students, who have been continually demonstrating for economic and political reform over the past two months.
The Armed Forces has offered to hold such a dialog, but students rejected it for various reasons.
On Monday, though, a group of student leaders met with members of the media and urged them to share their concerns about the deterioration in the social, economic and political situation, and support their cause through news coverage.
Student bodies of nine universities known to have been waging demonstrations critical of the government over the past two weeks met Monday with members of the media at the Jakarta University campus in East Jakarta. During the discussion, students cited what they described as a decline in the media's interest in their demonstrations against soaring prices of essential commodities and for economic and political reforms.
They expressed fear that once the media no longer considered student protests newsworthy, coverage of the demonstrations would stop completely.
The students said reporters had begun treating their demonstrations as mere numbers and that their crucial messages were being lost before publication. "You have not given a voice to our messages," one student complained.
"Your (shortcomings) in your reports of our activities show that there's no such thing as freedom of the press," said another student, adding that he understood the pressure put on the Indonesian media by those in power.
However, he said, the media needed to also fight for its freedom by supporting the students' cause.
The universities represented in the meeting included August 17 University, Jayabaya University, Dr. Moestopo University, Jakarta Teachers' Training Institute, Atma Jaya University, Veteran University, YARSI Medical Institute and the University of Indonesia. (aan/swe)