Hamzah underlines need for recovery

Hamzah underlines need for recovery

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

Vice President Hamzah Haz demanded on Tuesday that the public
help maintain security and political stability to allow the real
sector to recover, otherwise the economic crisis would worsen.

What was needed by this nation was knowing how to revive and
encourage the real sector to grow, Hamzah said in a dialog with
religious figures, representatives of the community, youths and
women at the North Sumatra governor's office.

"If security and politics could be stabilized, God willing,
the real sector of the business world would be able to run as
usual," Hamzah said.

Besides the importance of maintaining security and political
stability, the Vice President said the real sector also needed
certainty in the conversion rate.

"Without speeding up the development of the real sector, it
will be difficult for Indonesians to get out of the crisis," he
said.

He reminded the audience that Indonesia had been categorized
as a poor country with a per capita income of only US$400 to $500
per annum compared to the category's limit of $800.

Hamzah also expressed concern over the unequal distribution of
development in which only the Greater Jakarta area seems to have
developed as well as expected.

Development projects in other regions, especially in the outer
islands, were still far behind, thereby sparking demand in a
number of areas, especially Aceh and Irian Jaya, for
independence, he said.

"We hope that this can be repaired through the implementation
of regional autonomy," he said.

After the one-hour meeting, Hamzah visited Al-Kautsar Islamic
boarding school and opened an executive meeting of leaders of the
Muslim-based United Development Party in North Sumatra.