Gunungkidul exiles send Rp 100m a day back home

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Gunungkidul, known for its infertile land in a mountainous area in Yogyakarta province, has been flooded with postal money orders of more than Rp 100 million a day for the past few weeks in the lead up to Idul Fitri and Christmas celebrations.

Over the last two weeks, a total of more than Rp 1 billion has been sent through the postal service, "Gunungkidul people-in- exile", to their relatives in the regency, a staff member of state-owned PT Pos Indonesia in Wonosari said recently.

Edward Edjo, the supervisor of the service unit at the Gunungkidul Post Office, said that more than 250 sheets of postal money orders were being sent to Gunungkidul each day. Most senders were living in greater Jakarta though money had been coming in from Bandung in West Java, Surabaya in East Java and Semarang in Central Java.

"Like previous years, we expect to receive some Rp 3.5 billion this month," he said.

The amount of postal money orders has long been an annual phenomenon in Gunungkidul, especially ahead of the Idul Fitri and Christmas holidays. Last year, for example, the amount of postal money orders sent to the region in just one month totaled 3,803 sheets worth some Rp 3.2 billion.

"Most of the money was sent to the subdistricts of Ponjong, Semin, and Karangmojo," said Edjo, adding that most of this year's postal money orders were also sent to the same regions.

"We expect to receive more this year because we have a relatively better economic condition than last year," Iwan Busro Hasan, head of the media coverage section of the Gunungkidul government's office, told the Post by phone.

Iwan said that Gunungkidul's infertile lands had forced its residents to work hard to survive.

"A majority of youths, including high school graduates, have gone out to change their lives and to develop their futures," he said.

According to Iwan, some 30 percent of the regency's total population of 753.000 had left the area to strive for a better life in other cities -- 90 percent of those for Jakarta or its surrounds.

Of the 30 percent, said Iwan, half of them came from the sub- districts of Ponjong, Semin, and Karangmojo. Some 50 percent of the total worked as household servants and factory labors, while others had become successful businesspeople.

Iwan said it was not surprising, therefore, that the region had been receiving some 100 to 150 postal money orders a month.

"A Gunungkidul person who has lived in Jakarta for a long time, for example, established some three years ago a training center here where Gunungkidul people are able to learn how to start running Bakmi Jawa (Javanese noodle cooking) businesses in Greater Jakarta," Iwan said.

The local government, too, according to Iwan, had established a similar training center for household servants two years ago, through the local workers office in cooperation with local non- government organizations.

"We do realize what they could contribute to the region, especially in increasing the people's wealth," Iwan said, adding that many of the Gunungkidul families had enjoyed the benefit of having relatives in Jakarta and other prosperous cities.