Post-conflict Maluku seeks recovery funds from Jakarta

Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon, Maluku

Despite being battered by two years of sectarian conflict from 1999 to 2001, the province of Maluku is still uncertain when a special fund would be allocated for its post-conflict recovery programs.

Two other strife-torn provinces, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and Papua, have already received trillions of rupiah from special autonomy funds provided by Jakarta.

West Southeast Maluku (MTB) regent SJ Oratmangun said the uncertainty over the Special Presidential Instruction (Inpres) fund's disbursement for Maluku's recovery showed unfairness on the part of the central government.

The impact of the religious fighting on the province was serious, he said, with a large amount of infrastructure destroyed or damaged. But unlike Aceh and Papua, the Maluku provincial government had to beg from the central government for money.

"Maluku has not received anything, while Papua and Aceh have been flooded with trillions of rupiah. The National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) has stated Rp 6 trillion (US$706 million) has been allocated for Aceh and Rp 7 trillion to Papua," Oratmangun said.

He told The Jakarta Post at a seminar on Maluku Development Planning at the Baileo Siwalima building in Ambon last Tuesday that the State Guidelines Policy (GBHN) had recommended three conflict areas -- Aceh, Papua and Maluku -- be given special attention by the central government.

Based on the GBHN, Aceh and Papua receive funds from the central government under special autonomy treatment, while assistance for Maluku is regulated under the Inpres fund.

"There is still no certainty about the amount to be allocated for Maluku through the special Inpres fund. We have to beg from the ministries in Jakarta. If they provide us with funds, I will thank God. If not, what can we do? In this context, I think they treat Maluku like an (unloved) stepchild," Oratmangun said.

Some 6,000 people were killed, while thousands of houses, schools, mosques, churches and other buildings were destroyed during the two-year conflict in the province.

Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes to refugee camps. The war ended after Muslim and Christian leaders signed a peace accord brokered by the government in 2001.

Oratmangun, a former head of the Maluku Conflict Crisis task force, said the refugee problem had not yet been solved partly because of the lack of funds.

The central government should therefore pay more attention to Maluku's rehabilitation program, he said.

"I have frequently brought up Maluku's condition to those at the national level, but to no avail. Do we need to demand independence in order for the central government to pay serious attention to us?" he said.

Separately, an expert with the State Ministry for the Acceleration of Development in Eastern Indonesia, Moch. Ikhwanuddin Mawardi, said the special Inpres fund meant prioritizing attention to Maluku, but not necessarily in the form of special aid.

However, he said the amount of funds proposed for the Maluku recovery program should be increased as the impact of the conflict were extremely serious.

Mawardi said his office had proposed the Rp 1.002 trillion allocated for decentralization be calculated again so as to give more funds to the province.

He said the Inpres fund had not been disbursed because the special presidential instruction was only recently issued on Sept. 21, 2003.

Mawardi said he hoped the fund would be disbursed next year.