Poverty lingers in East Kalimantan

Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Samarinda

In spite of the unbearable heat, Hasan, 46, works with determination, picking up plastic bottles, cans and scrap metal strewn across a vacant lot behind Sempaja Sports Complex in Samarinda.

"I earn Rp 5,000 a day scavenging. It is enough for our daily food, but certainly not enough to cover my child's school fees," said Hasan, the father of a 12-year-old boy, Hardian, who has already dropped out of school. His wife, Hasnah, 44, collects and sells kangkung, a leafy vegetable that grows in water.

The family live in a wooden 4.4 meter square hut in Samarinda's Ulu area. Inside there is little else but a gas stove, an old radio and a mat that serves as their bed.

It is small compensation that when they move in a week's time -- at the landowner's demand -- there will not be much to pack up. He gave no clear reason for their eviction.

"I beg the government for help, but I don't have much faith that anyone will step in," said Hasan.

Though East Kalimantan is rich in natural resources, many of its people live in poverty.

Meanwhile, the East Kalimantan government is seemingly focused on other things, such as the construction of the Sempaja Sports Complex and Madya Sports Stadium, which together cost the province some Rp 900 billion.

The province has also bought five GA8 Airvan airplanes from Australia at a total cost of Rp 27.5 billion. Another project that raised eyebrows was the construction of the East Kalimantan governor's residence, which cost the province Rp 71.1 billion.

The province's budget is larger than most other province's due to its natural resource production. It produced 50.4 million tons of coal, 14.4 tons of gold and 10.7 tons of silver in 2003. Natural gas and oil production reached 1.7 billion cubic meters and 79.7 million barrels respectively in the same year.

Last year, the provincial budget was Rp 2.9 trillion and this year's budget slightly decreased to Rp 2.65 trillion.

However, the sizable budget is apparently of little benefit to the poor. Last year, according to government figures, poor people in the province reached 330,147 people of the total population of 2.7 million. Of 2,094 schools in the province, 628 have reportedly fallen into disrepair.

Nusyirwan Ismail, assistant to the governor for development and welfare, agreed that poverty was widespread in the province, but blamed the problem on migrants. The migrants, many of whom are unskilled workers, set out to try their luck in the resource- rich province, but many ended up jobless.

Some were initially employed, but a slump in the economy forced some companies to shut down operations, particularly timber companies.

"No wonder that the number of poor people is on the rise," said Nusyirwan.

Nusyirwan said the provincial government would be focusing on improving the quality of human resources to reduce the unemployment rate.