Sakai tribe, a portrait of poverty in oil-rich Riau

Puji Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Bengkalis

The home of 53-year-old Jempol, who is one of hundreds of Sakai tribesmen in Riau, is a dilapidated hut near an oil pipeline belonging to PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia (PT CPI). He shares it with his two children, who are both under the age of five. But Jempol (which literally means thumb), is not one to complain.

"There are many other Sakai people who live in worse huts nearby," Jempol told The Jakarta Post at his hut in Mandau recently. The area is about 115 kilometers south of Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau, or some 60 kilometers south of Minas, an oil and gas field belonging to PT CPI.

While the tribesmen in Mandau have been given various types of assistance, some of their traditional beliefs may be harming their health. The water that they drink and bathe in is dirty and stagnant, but they hold a centuries-old belief that bathing in a flowing river washes away one's spirit.

Riau is like a microcosm of the country. Governments have changed, but Riau has stood still as its natural resources, including oil reserves, palm oil, and timber, have been plundered.

"If the central government doesn't pay attention to the fate of Riau and its people, let us determine our own fate.

"We cannot stand by while we are treated like this, over and over again, by Jakarta. If this continues, we clearly wish for independence, or perhaps to join neighboring Malaysia as its tenth state," said Col. (ret.) Abbas Jamil, chairman of the Riau Leadership Society Communication Forum.

Al Azhar, a cultural observer and prominent figure in Riau, agreed with Abbas. Called the "president of free Riau" by some, Al Azhar demanded a 40 percent share in Riau's oil output from the central government.

At present, Riau gets 15 percent and the central government 85 percent. "That is just not fair. It is sheer tyranny," said Al Azhar.

Riau is known as a resource-rich province, contributing more than 50 percent of the country's oil revenue, including from PT Caltex.

But, ironically, it is also one of the poorest and most neglected provinces in Indonesia. Based on the 2004 data of the National Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN), in 2003, 40.05 percent of Riau's people were living in poverty.

Also, in the 2003-2004 school year, as many as 108,078 children, aged from seven to 15-years-old, did not attend school.

Substandard teachers in the province and inadequate facilities have exacerbated the problem, leaving Riau far behind other provinces in terms of education.

Lecturer and economic observer from Riau University, Dr. Edyanus Herman Halim, said the people of Riau had been slowly reduced to poverty in the 49 years since independence.

"The excessive exploitation of natural resources in the province had caused great suffering, due to environmental damage, poverty and the restriction of the Riau people's social rights," said Herman.