Soeharto openly laments people's suffering

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto openly lamented the growing torment and increased poverty faced by the people due to the economic crisis which has become so bad that even some mothers cannot afford to buy milk for their children.

But Soeharto avowed that the nation would persevere as it has many times in the past.

"We are a nation of fighters who do not bow in the face of challenges... We must not lose hope," he said in a written speech which was read by all 27 governors in their respective provinces yesterday.

The speech presented the 1998/1999 list of projects.

He admitted that the government had not succeeded in resolving the economic situation and that some earlier policies had even contributed to the crisis.

"We need introspection and to review various polices and sectorial strategies we have followed so far which directly or indirectly caused the monetary crisis.

"Various government policies aimed at handling the crisis have not fully succeeded," he admitted.

Soeharto could not hide his concern over the plight of the people, acknowledging that per capita income had dropped. "This means that more people became poor in the last nine months."

The President also lamented massive layoffs of workers and sympathetically noted the plight of housewives and mothers: "Home industries which have been able to provide daily needs like the tempe and tahu industry can no longer function. Even mothers can no longer provide powdered milk for their babies."

Indonesia has been hit by its worst economic crisis in the last three decades. Even Soeharto had to admit yesterday that the planned take-off stage of national development would be hampered.

"The reality is that our standard of living has dropped," said the President in his statement, adding that the 1998/1999 State Budget "was not as what we had hoped."

He pointed to the manufacturing industry as one of the worst hit mainly because its components were imported.

But he still offered words of hope concerning businesses dealing in goods with a high level of local content such as enterprises related to the agricultural sector.

According to Soeharto, the government had taken steps to rid itself of monopoly and other trade impeding practices, but these steps alone were far from enough.

He said much laid in the hands of parents and teachers in helping to develop human resources which he described as being the nation's main asset.

In presenting this year's project list, Soeharto noted that there was a nominal increase in development funds for the provinces from Rp 9.9 trillion last year to Rp 10.1 trillion this year.

He said even with the limited funds, the pace of development must continue and focus on poverty alleviation.

A large portion of the funds would be allocated to Presidential Instruction programs (INPRES) which accounted for Rp 7.1 trillion.

Soeharto said projects worth less than Rp 500 million would be fully managed by local administrations.

The Presidential Instruction programs cover projects such as the Least Developed Villages fund (IDT), which disburses working capital to underdeveloped villages, and the construction of basic infrastructure including schools, roads and community health centers.

The funds in the project list account for only 6.9 percent of the 1998/1999 state budget which was approved in February by the House of Representatives. (prb/mds)