Govt plans to resettle 80,000 families in 1997/98

JAKARTA (JP): The government hopes to resettle 80,000 families in the 1997/98 fiscal year beginning in April, up from 76,322 targeted this year.

While the new target may appear ambitious, Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo received assurances of cooperation and support from seven fellow cabinet ministers at a coordination meeting yesterday.

The majority of these families, 52,107, will be resettled in eastern Indonesia.

The meeting also reviewed the government's program to turn one million hectares of peat forest in Central Kalimantan province into transmigration sites, Siswono said.

He announced, after the meeting, that in the next six years 325,000 families will be resettled in Central Kalimantan, starting modestly this year with 3,000 families, and growing to 98,000 in 2001/2002 fiscal year.

The other seven ministers attending the meeting were Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro, Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave, Minister of Cooperatives and Small Enterprises Subiakto Tjakrawerdaja, Minister of Forestry Djamaloedin Soeryohadikoesoemo, Minister of Population Haryono Suyono, Minister of Agrarian Affairs Soni Harsono and Minister of Public Housing Akbar Tandjung.

The meeting is the third of its kind since 1994.

Previously, the government's transmigration program consistently fell behind target, chiefly because of poor coordination between the various government agencies.

Under the transmigration program the government hopes to resettle as many people as it can from Java and Bali, both overcrowded, to sparsely populated islands.

The meeting identified problems in various sectors and came up with proposed solutions and ideas.

In education, the ministers noted the shortage of teachers and school buildings as well as the need to upgrade the quality of teachers.

Wardiman supported the program to offer scholarships to primary teachers in transmigration areas so they can continue with their education and upgrade their teaching skills.

Siswono welcomed the suggestion to conduct "open schools" as a way of overcoming the shortage of junior high schools. He said more than 29,000 children in transmigration sites are unable to complete their education because the areas do not have junior high schools.

The meeting also agreed on the need to encourage the private sector to participate in the development and growth of transmigration sites.

The Ministry of Transmigration will try to give as much access as possible to the participation of private investors, Siswono said, citing plantation as one business that could be incorporated in the resettlement program.

The government has already issued operational licenses to 77 plantation companies, he said.

The ministers reviewed credit schemes for small enterprises run by settlers, subsidies for settlers to upgrade their houses, and speedier processes for obtaining land certificates.

The meeting looked into the possibility of developing tourism in transmigration sites, by developing special interests such as hunting and handicraft.

"The ministry does not want to turn settlers into objects of spectacle, but the atmosphere of the transmigration areas, including the farms and villages, could be a source of enjoyment for tourists," Siswono said. (03)