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)