Poverty, malnutrition on rise in Samarinda
Rusman The Jakarta Post/Samarinda
The son of Madurese migrants living in East Kalimantan's capital of Samarinda is skinny, his stomach distended. The three-year-old boy, Syaiful, weighs less than nine kilograms.
"Staff at the integrated health post (posyandu) said that our son is undernourished, and he's now suffering from diarrhea," Rasiyem, 32, said in the family's small rented house in a dense and dirty neighborhood.
Her husband, Hasan, 35, supports the family by selling satay but his earnings are not enough to provide his son with nutritious food.
Despite their son's distressing condition, economic hardship has meant the couple has put their son's fate in God's hands.
"We cannot afford to bring our son to the health post any more, let alone the hospital. Our earnings are just enough to eat, day by day," Hasan said.
Hasan's family is one of the thousands of families that are facing malnutrition in East Kalimantan, a province rich in coal, timber, oil and gas but plagued by poverty and inequality.
The provincial health office has identified 174 cases of malnutrition in under fives children as of May. The largest number of cases were found in Balikpapan, with 81 out of 56,000 children, and in Kutai Kartanegara with 59 cases, out of 63,000 children.
However, the office estimates the actual number of sufferers is far higher, up to 27,000 children so far this year, or 7.5 percent of the estimated 360,000 children in the province.
Despite the recent media focus, the office data shows malnutrition has been a constant in the province and is increasing year-by-year as conditions deteriorate for the poor. In 2004, the number of malnourished children was estimated at 33,000, or around 9.1 percent, while in 2003, only 24,500 undernourished children were recorded.
And while the province, with an annual revenue of Rp 2.65 trillion, is comparatively rich by national standards, more than 320,000 or 11 percent of its population were classified as poor in 2003, increasing to 330,000 last year. Coupled with the province's steadily increasing gross domestic product, from 98.43 trillion in 2003 to Rp 104.4 trillion in 2004, the figures paint a picture of increasing poverty and inequality in the province. Office data shows rates of illnesses from preventable diseases including dengue and dysentery are also on the rise.
"The number of estimated malnutrition cases in East Kalimantan in 2005 has already probably reached 27,000 based on the data obtained from the annual survey. But only 174 cases have been identified and followed up," East Kalimantan Health Office head Andi Madjid said.
Thirteen regions in the province were prone to malnutrition, Andi said. Indicators showed that poor diet and poverty often caused by crop failures had contributed to the significant number of malnutrition cases in the province.
"Some of the factors are a lack of awareness of nutrition and the inability to provide a balanced diet, especially for poor families that cannot afford to provide their children with the proper nutrients," said Andi.
Meanwhile, the assistant to the social affairs department at the provincial administration, Nursyirwan Ismail, said poor or non-existent health care and a lack of infrastructure were also causes. The government, he added, was making efforts to mitigate the problems, although he admitted less funds for health had nutrition had been allocated this year.
Nursyirwan said increasing migration to the area was the most significant cause of malnutrition, which he said was further stretching already underfunded facilities.
"The social problems here are likely to continue increasing because since entering the autonomy era, poor and unskilled migrants have kept coming here trying to make a living. This is the biggest problem."