HRD vital in eastern Indonesia

By Riwanto Tirtosudarmo

JAKARTA (JP): Eastern Indonesia, the provinces located east of the biogeographic Wallace line, is a vast area containing remarkably diverse heterogeneous ethnic groups which follow everything from stone-age to highly educated and urban lifestyles.

It's obvious that development in the provinces, a hot topic during the past five years, will be hampered by this sociocultural plurality.

The Eastern versus Western contrast has replaced the dichotomy of "Java" and "Outer Islands", a classic political and economic issue in Indonesia. The government attributes the poor development in the east to the poor quality of human resources. In addition to the poor condition of human resources, however, are decisive political and cultural factors.

As pointed out by a Malaysian scholar, Lim Teck Ghee, the only intrinsic value in development is the human dimension. So far, the government has had the misguided assumption that physical development is the only part of improving human resources.

The reason is that literature on human resources development is dominated by the work of development-economists which formulate the concept of "human capital" as the basic tenet for their theories and approaches. The theory holds that human capital formation, the process of changing the quality or productive power of human labor, is primarily affected by formal education, on-the-job training, health and migration.

The development of the human capital theory provided an economic rationale for the process of human capital formation at an individual level by the very simple proposition that individuals "invest" in themselves through education, better health and nutrition, and migration with the expectation of higher returns.

This narrow approach certainly supports and justifies the government's perception of the poor quality of human resources in the eastern region. All the conventional statistical indicators on education, health and the economy of the region's population are far below those of western Indonesia.

The domination of physical indicators in measuring human resources development in eastern Indonesia, in turn, have influenced the formulation of various development policies which virtually ignore the social and cultural aspects of the population.

The government tends to treat locals as inferior and backward. And when the government encounters difficulty in communicating development programs, it perceives the local population as disobedient.

Human resource improvement will not be accomplished if it is treated similar to education or health affairs. Although statistics show a significant improvement in education and health conditions, genuine development in human resource in eastern Indonesia is still problematic.

The New Order government's strategy is economic growth. The emphasis on economic growth has made infrastructure the priority.

Eastern Indonesia's economy, predominantly a mono-crop agriculture with no industrial base, is vulnerable to external shocks, as pointed out by Dhakidae.

He cited two national policies which have severely affected eastern Indonesia's economy.

One, the 1955 government monetary policy which caused a drop in the value of coconuts, the region's major commodity. The relocation of trading center from Makassar (now Ujungpandang) to Surabaya due to the PRRI-PERMESTA rebellion, in late 1950s also affected eastern Indonesia's economy.

Two, the introduction of a trade regulation in the 1980s which formed the clove monopoly. This further eclipsed the viability of eastern Indonesia's economy.

The President's acknowledgement of lack of development in eastern Indonesia in the House of Representatives in January 1990, ignited a wide academic debate. Real government action to accelerate development in these provinces has been surprisingly leisurely. Part of the problem is perhaps the complex social and geographical challenges.

This slowness is reflected by the clumsy creation of the National Advisory Council on the development of eastern Indonesia in December 1993. The organizational structure of this council and the wide area designated as eastern Indonesia indicates the government's tendency to compromise when faced with managing a complex task.

It is not surprising that the council has faced problems deciding on issues. For example, it took more than a year for the council to arrange its first plenary meeting in January 1995.

The government's definition of eastern Indonesia, which includes Kalimantan, also creates a problem. The region comprises not only resource-rich provinces such as East Kalimantan and Irian Jaya, but also very poor provinces, such as East Nusatenggara and East Timor.

The centralistic character of the government, which tends to standardize policy, has resulted in rich and poor provinces being treated similarly. The real answer is greater flexibility and autonomy for the provinces.

Separate treatment is needed for poor provinces, such as East Nusatenggara and East Timor, as they may need more subsidies to develop. The allocation of INPRES grants, where the only significant variable taken into account is the size of population, shows the government's bias towards western Indonesia, particularly Java.

Noted economist Iwan Azis strongly warned that replicating Indonesia is not only unsuitable, but would be detrimental to the vast natural resources of the region.

The Freeport case in Irian Jaya confirms the advanced thinking of Azis. The alternative development of eastern Indonesia, according to Azis, is a strategy that could promote small and medium-scale indigenous investors.

Much discussion on regional autonomy began after the government launched a pilot project early last year in all 27 provinces, except Jakarta. Many observers are skeptical the plan will have any significant effect on the existing central and regional structure and relationships. The central and regional governments' financial arrangements are centralistic and are not likely to be altered any time soon.

The condition of human resources in eastern Indonesia is the outcome of a long process of social, economic and political development. It is also, however, the key component for sustainable development in the future.

Closing the human resource development gap between eastern and western Indonesia is crucial to sustain national development.

The sluggishness of the government's interventions to reduce the imbalance in human resources and economic development between the two regions will cause tension between people in the regions.

Local populations will most likely be discouraged by the more aggressive and highly skilled migrants.

A strategy to prevent conflict between local populations and migrants is therefore urgently needed.

Azis' suggestion of giving indigenous entrepreneurs a larger opportunity to develop their economic activities should be taken seriously by the government.

An integral element of his strategy is forming an employment creation policy. A viable policy on human resource development must be formulated, not only to serve economic development but also to convey the political and cultural aspirations of the population.

The writer is a researcher at the Center for Population and Human Resources Studies at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences in Jakarta.