Graduates needed in Irian villages

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya: Irian Jaya needs 3,590 university graduates to work in 2,260 remote villages across the province, a local government official said.

The volunteers will stay in the least developed villages to assist villagers in improving their living conditions, head of Irian Jaya's Rural Areas Development Agency Tedjo Suprapto told Antara Friday.

The government allocates Rp 20 million for each poor village in the country per year. The fund is expected to be used for productive activities by villagers to strengthen their economy.

Separately, a National Development Planning Board senior official in charge of rural development programs, Gunawan Sumodiningrat, acknowledged that poverty alleviation programs were not often successful here.

"Its geographic position, poor transportation and the shortage of personnel to supervise the programs are the main factors behind the failure," Gunawan said in Jayapura. (prb)