Short-term intervention sought to defuse crisis

Short-term intervention sought to defuse crisis

JAKARTA (JP): Leading experts from various disciplines
proposed a number of short-term government interventions which
would help alleviate the suffering of the poor yesterday.

Among initiatives suggested were charity programs, placing
controls on the price of essential commodities, establishing a
local level information system for food scarcity and
availability, and the establishing community employment
exchanges.

Charity programs might appear to be unsustainable in the long-
term, but everything should be tried, sociology professor Selo
Soemardjan said.

The seminar also proposed a number of longer term
interventions that could be adopted by the government and the
public alike. For instance, the experts suggested that factories
use more manual labor and thereby employ more people instead of
relying heavily on machines.

Selo and his colleagues, including Mely G. Tan and Irwanto,
spoke out about their fears for the country's poor, and called on
people to cooperate to solve the situation.

"There are so many hungry and jobless people who should be
helped because otherwise they may stoop low enough to steal and
commit robbery," Selo told the media. United Nations Children's
Fund (Unicef) representative Stephen Woodhouse was present at the
briefing.

"Government steps to overcome the economic and monetary crisis
have yet to have any effect," Selo said. "That is why the wealthy
should help the poor. That way people help each other to deal
with the situation."

Selo conceded that many people helped in order to gain
recognition for their good deeds and for insurance in the case of
unrest breaking out, but said this was acceptable provided
suffering was appeased.

Selo pointed out that Indonesia had found shaking off the
monetary crisis more difficult than other Asian countries because
it had been battered by seven different crises simultaneously.

A social crisis, the El Nio-induced drought, forest fires,
job losses among migrant workers, the political crisis, and the
monetary crisis that turned into the economic crisis have dogged
the country since early last year.

The situation was aggravated because the government was slow
to react to the difficulties facing the country. He blamed this
lethargy on a preoccupation with the general elections in May
1997 and the General Assembly of the People's Consultative
Assembly in March 1998.

Some of the darkest moments of the economic crisis fell during
a political limbo when the old cabinet had been dissolved and the
new cabinet had yet to be sworn in. Ministers were consequently
reluctant to take affirmative steps to rectify the crisis, he
said.

Woodhouse explained that people in rural areas had borne the
brunt of the crisis because the flow of migration reversed when
people employed in urban areas began to lose their jobs.

Before the crisis, economic growth in rural areas lagged
behind urban rates. This imbalance attracted rural dwellers to
cities and depleted the stock of human resources in the country's
hinterlands, he said.

When the crisis broke in 1997, urban dwellers were forced to
return to their villages, further burdening these impoverished
areas.

"The process of returning home is marked by migrant fears that
they might not find work, but still have to keep their families
alive," Woodhouse said. "Those who still have land can cultivate
it, but those who are landless become a burden to their
community."

Woodhouse suggested that Indonesian people make the best use
of their tradition of cooperation, religious values and the bond
of families, to form a social safety net to help those worst
affected.

"A social safety net of this type would be characterized by
strong religious values and would be strengthened by the
involvement of ulemas and religious bodies," he added. (swe)