Kutai Kartanegara: Miracle regency or mismanaged mess?
Kutai Kartanegara: Miracle regency or mismanaged mess?
A'an Suryana and Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Kutai Kartanegara
A cable car in the middle of jungle-clad Kalimantan? Everybody
may not believe it, unless they see it themselves.
But, those who have never been in Tenggarong, the capital of
Kutai Kartanegara regency, will find that the cable car is no
longer a luxury.
The cable car, located in Kumala Tourist Island near
Tenggarong city downtown, was inaugurated on Sept. 26, 2002 by
then flamboyant regent Syaukani H.R. The Doppelmyrd cable car was
brought to Tenggarong from Austria, costing the energy rich
regency billions of rupiah.
Through the 1,300-meter long cable car, tourists can watch
over the whole Kumala Island, some 27 kilometers away from
Samarinda, the capital of East Kalimantan. At night, the tourists
could also see the flickering lamplights in Tenggarong city.
The grandiose cable car project is one of several monumental
projects initiated by Syaukani, who is seeking reelection this
year. Other major projects, which according to Syaukani were
built to raise the pride of Kutai Kartanegara, are a planetarium,
a Sky Tower and giant Lembu Swana sculpture. According to local
myth, Lembu Swana is a cow-like animal that served as the
carriage of Kutai King Aji Batara Agung Dewa Sakti.
These projects are the fruits of fast-paced development which
began in 2001, when regional autonomy was introduced nationwide.
The autonomy then enabled regional governments to manage their
own resources and enjoyed more revenues than ever. For a natural
resource-rich regency like Kutai Kartanegara, autonomy provided
it with windfall profits from mining, oil and gas and timber
companies.
Under Syaukani, the local government benefited from the newly
found wealth to spur development projects through the Kutai
Empowerment Development Movement (Gerakan Pengembangan
Pemberdayaan Kutai or Gerbang Dayaku).
"The movement aims to create a prosperous and self-reliant
society," Syaukani said in his book titled "Kutai Kartanegara's
Strategy and Potentials in Autonomy and Globalization Era."
Kutai embarked on massive construction project of
infrastructure projects to accelerate development in the regency,
including the construction of a bridge that links Tenggarong city
and Samarinda city.
The local government also introduced a Billion Village
Movement, through which the regental budget allocated Rp 1
billion (US$106,400) -- was raised to Rp 2 billion in 2002 and
subsequent years -- to each subdistrict to enable them to build
infrastructure and enhance human resources. The government also
provided loans with no interest to every household amounting to
Rp 5 million to help them start small businesses.
The most notable result of the development is free education
from elementary to senior high school for all. A large number of
students have received scholarships from to enable them complete
their studies.
There is no other regencies or provinces in the country that
match Kutai Kartanegara in their awareness of education.
The speedy development in the regency has amazed Admiral (ret)
Soedomo, former Coordinating Minister of Political and Security
Affairs and ally of former President Soeharto. When visiting
Kutai Kartanegara a few years ago, he told Syaukani that "Kutai
Kartanegara looks like a country of 1001 nights", referring to
the Baghdad kingdom in Middle East tale.
But, the facelift development is not free from criticism. Many
say the local government has not been prudent in term of
development funding. It sets priorities, but in many cases, they
do not materialize and many of the projects are a waste of money.
"The government says that it will prioritize education sector,
but in fact, education in the regency still lags behind other
regencies in East Kalimantan. This year, despite its rich, Kutai
Kartanegara ranks ninth in term of education quality out of 13
regencies in the province," said Zulkarnain, the deputy dean of
the School of Social and Political Sciences at state-run Kutai
Kartanegara University.
Corruption is believed to be rampant and many projects were
granted to certain companies without tender.
The Rp 2 billion village movement has not run well, as
considerable part of the funds have not been properly
distributed.
"There has been a question whether these funds have really
reached all households in Kutai Kartanegara," said Zulkarnain.
Some people agree to this account, including Sri, who owns a
small car wash shop.
"I heard the regency provide us loans without interest, which
amounted to between Rp 3 million and Rp 5 million, but I never
receive this loan. The project, if existed, is good, but I
suspect there are irregularities in its implementation. Only
those who are close to the power might get the loan," said Sri, a
Javanese migrant who has been living in the regency for 14 years.
There are shortcomings impeding the development projects, as
evident in the 2003 official data which revealed that almost 20
percent (or 69,109) of the regency population of 388,466 lived in
poverty.
"Therefore, it does not matter who will be elected in the
regental election. The important thing is the elected regent has
to be able to bring prosperity to the regency and establish
justice for all," said Zulkarnain.
Facts about Kutai Kartanegara
Area: 28,972,980 square meters
Population (2005): 494,614
Budget 2004: Rp 3 trillion (East Kalimantan provincial budget
2004: Rp 2.9 trillion)
Budget 2005 : Rp 2.7 trillion (East Kalimantan prov. Budget 2005
: Rp 2.65 trillion)
Multinational oil, gas and mining companies operating in the
regency: Vico, Total Indonesia, Exspan, Unocal and Banpu (a
Thailand coal company)