Islets facing growing poverty

JAKARTA (JP): About 900 islands, mostly inhabited by fisherfolk, have become pockets of poverty, Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid said on Monday, blaming a lack of coordination between the central and regional governments.

Antara quoted his address read by Director General of Regional Development Soetardjo J., at the opening of a seminar on the management of small islands here.

The condition of the islands, whose total size is less than 500 square kilometers, was partly because of "lack of synchronized development" of small islands, Syarwan said.

There was frequent lack of coordination between the government and the provinces, the minister said, adding the ministry was open to the possibility of "a new model more capable of intensifying the empowerment of communities" on the islands.

The ministry, he said, had increased the allocation of funds for such islands.

"In the 1997/1998 fiscal year, the government allocated Rp 12 billion for 1945 islands, far larger than 1994/1995 when Rp 900 million was given for 1,555 islands," he said.

He acknowledged the allocation was based on records of which islands were populated, and those which had names.

"Of 17,508 islands (throughout the archipelago) about 5,000 have names and are populated," he told participants of the talks held among others by the Ministry with the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology, and the Batam Authority.

Experts spoke, among other things, on natural resources, ecology and technology, the natural environment of small islands, and tourism.