Islanders' daily life no paradise idyll

Islanders' daily life no paradise idyll

PULAU KELAPA (JP): Lying 30 nautical miles north of Jakarta in
the Thousand Islands is the Kelurahan Pulau Kelapa (Coconut
Island subdistrict).

The subdistrict consists of 64 islands -- three of which are
home to fishing communities and the rest of which are privately
owned or reserved for tourists.

The islands are well protected by smaller surrounding islands.
Calm seas, mild currents and soft breezes are typical weather
here.

In the midst of the calm, azure sea lies a typical traditional
community shoved aside by modernization, misgovernance and social
dysfunction.

On Pulau Kelapa, one of the islands inhabited by a fishing
community, 2,087 families are cramped onto 13 hectares of land.
The other two inhabited islands, Pulau Kelapa II and Pulau
Harapan, are not much different.

Local people refer to themselves as Orang Pulo (island
people). They are a blend of Bugis, Sundanese and Javanese and
have occupied the islands since the 18th century.

According to Abdul Manap, former village chief of Pulau
Kelapa, when Krakatau erupted in 1883, 500 people lived on Pulau
Kelapa.

Time for the communities seems to be marked by the change in
seasonal winds and extraordinary events such as the volcano's
eruption.

"Orang Pulo are an assiduous community. They may be
characterized as hard workers and rational and prudent people,"
said researcher Yayan Indriatmoko.

Yayan, Dian Herdiani and Hasantoha from the University of
Indonesia (UI) school of anthropology lived with the community
for three months while conducting research, which last year won
an award at The XI National Week of Science.

They found that Orang Pulo viewed themselves as a
disadvantaged community isolated from outside progress.

Their view might not be totally wrong. Pulau Kelapa, Pulau
Kelapa II and Pulau Harapan are surrounded by private and tourist
islands. Large yachts and tourists from many different countries
frequent the islands at weekends.

"Orang Pulo are perceptive. They have observed the changes and
then weighted their living standards against the luxurious lives
of visitors which they bump into in their own backyards at
weekends," the report said.

Direct interaction with only the most elite members of society
may be the reason for the narrow social perspective held by the
fishing communities.

From the window of his raised house on the west side of the
island, Pak Musro, a fisherman, looks over at Pulau Pamegaran
every night. While Pulau Kelapa is cramped, the privately-owned
Pamegaran is empty.

It is owned by Probosutedjo, a well-known Jakarta businessman,
who occasionally goes there at the weekend. Otherwise the island
is only inhabited by four attendants who rake up the leaves.
"Tuan (master) rarely comes these days," one of the attendants
said.

The Jakarta municipality's plans for the area currently focus
on the further development of tourism.

The plan disregards the communities' traditional way of life
and current standard of living, according to the researchers.

Only 10 percent of their catches are bought by the island
resorts here, Yayan said. The fishermen have to look for buyers
as far away as Cianjur in West Java to sell the rest, he added.

Although investments and job opportunities are always welcomed
in the area, the development plan does not focus strongly enough
on ensuring that the benefits of tourism are passed on to the
local people.

Poor education and skills place job seekers from the islands
at low entry levels in the tourism industry, with wages of no
more than Rp 110,000 a month.

Although the wage comes with security, the high cost of living
in the islands and the limited availability of jobs means that
the industry has a minimal impact on the overall welfare of the
community. Less than five percent of resident families currently
depend on tourism for a living.

It is unlikely that more island resorts will be developed
while the crisis persists. However, future investments and plans,
according to one of the inhabitants, "will be gladly received, as
long as they keep our community in the picture." (46)