Society will pull together to avert famine

Society will pull together to avert famine

Renewed rioting and looting hit Cilacap and Aceh recently, and
food shortages are looming in several regions. Dr. Mubyarto, an
assistant on poverty alleviation to Coordinating Minister for
Economy, Finance and Industry Ginandjar Kartasasmita, discusses
the issue.

Question: Has the government taken any measures related to the
perceived greater poverty and lack of food supplies?

Mubyarto: The government has actually done a lot and economic
ministers have too little time to sleep because they have to
attend meetings for the formulation of measures to overcome
problems caused by the monetary crisis. But, as the problems are
too great, the results of the government's efforts are
insignificant.

Government officials are making all-out efforts because they
do not want to be blamed for violating the people's human rights
in the economy -- the rights to have adequate food, clothing,
housing, etc. However, our feelings were hurt when we were
accused of bribing the people by allocating huge subsidies with
an aim to obtaining their sympathy and commitment to electing
President B.J. Habibie to the presidency in next year's
accelerated general election.

The lack of food supplies has been caused by harvest failures
in some areas, late deliveries of imports and disruption of the
distribution system. I hope the new arrivals of rice imports and
the recent replacement of the head of the State Logistics Agency
(Bulog) will improve rice supplies in the near future.

Q: How effective is the government's social safety net (SSN)
program in reducing the burdens of the poor?

M: The government has not implemented its SSN program, which
includes the creation of labor-intensive jobs for people who are
laid off, under the current budget because its financing will
depend on the disbursement of foreign aid.

Perhaps the funds for the SSN program can be disbursed in
November or December.

SSN measures are now conducted by community members, including
the wives of civil servants and university lecturers, who are
moved to coordinate donations or food supplies for the poor in
their surrounding areas.

Q: How would you describe the magnitude of the effects of poverty
and lack of food on the people?

M: The current economic crisis has increased the number of people
living below the poverty line from 22.5 million (11.3 percent of
the country's total population of about 202 million) before the
start of the crisis in July 1997 to 79.4 million (39.1 percent of
the population) as of June. More than two thirds, or 56.8
million, live in rural areas and the remaining 22.6 million in
urban areas. The increase stems mainly from job dismissals,
harvest failures in drought-hit areas and skyrocketing prices.

The International Labor Organization has predicted that the
figure may increase to 140 million (66 percent of the
population), but the government will work hard to make sure the
prediction fails.

Poverty problems in big cities are more serious than those in
rural areas because industrial workers who are dismissed or laid
off by their employers generally do not want to return to their
villages. They prefer to continue living in cities, believing
that they will be able to look for other jobs.

But don't be too pessimistic. The poverty will not lead to
large-scale starvation because our communal way of life will
always encourage certain groups to take the initiative to help
the poor in their surrounding areas. The poor will also try to
look for cheaper food alternatives than rice.

The starvation that resulted in the death of about 500 people
in Irian Jaya before the start of the monetary crisis last year
was caused by a cultural factor. The people died of hunger
because they did not want to leave the drought-hit territories of
their tribes out of fear from attacks by other tribes.

Q: Do you see any correlation between the increase in the poverty
and the rise in the frequency of rioting and looting in various
regions of the country?

M: The recent rioting and looting incidents were not in any way
caused by poverty and hunger, but by political and psychological
reasons.

This week's rioting and looting in Aceh, for example, had no
relation to poverty and hunger. It was caused by a feeling of
revenge against the military for the torture of their peers
during the years of military operations there. The unilateral
takeover of land at (former president Soeharto's) Tapos ranch in
Bogor, West Java, was driven by a motivation to regain their
land.

So, the problems of rioting and looting cannot be solved with
a social safety net program. They should be resolved by
political measures. I am sure the rioting and looting will abate
if the government, for example, takes stern legal action against
corrupt bankers and government officials.

Q: How will the government make its SSN program successful?

M: The government will create labor intensive jobs for laid-off
people and help finance the cultivation of land currently left
idle. The government will also urge local administrations to
launch market operations to sell basic commodities at discounted
prices. However, difficulty in looking for and identifying laid-
off people will make the program on labor intensive jobs very
hard to implement. (riz)