Soeharto tells the rich to give money to the poor

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto warned rich Indonesians yesterday to voluntarily set aside a small portion of their wealth for the poor, before being forced to do so by the government.

"At this stage, the government is simply appealing. But if this is ignored, we will make it obligatory," Soeharto was quoted by Antara as saying in his address to a meeting of approximately 10,000 youths in Hanura, Lampung.

"This is not robbery. The poor are entitled to demand something from those who are more fortunate and able," he said to the members of Karang Taruna, a government-sponsored youth organization which has branches in every village throughout the country.

Yesterday's message went a little further than the remarks he made during a meeting with Indonesia's biggest individual and corporate taxpayers in Bogor early this month.

In Bogor, Soeharto stated that the wealthy had a "moral obligation" to support the poor, and that they owed their wealth to his administration's policies that ensured political stability and sustained economic growth for 30 years.

President Soeharto initiated a new fund raising campaign this year to help the poor which appealed to individuals and corporations, whose after-tax income exceeded Rp 100 million ($43,500) a year, to give 2 percent of their income to the fund.

To his dismay, only half of the 11,000 people and corporations earning that much had complied by early September.

Soeharto said yesterday that 26 million people in Indonesia still lived in poverty.

The government's IDT program, a scheme launched in 1994 to send financial aid packages to the poorest villages, failed to reach some 11.5 million poor people who live in villages and cities not covered by the program, he said. It is for these 11.5 million people that the fund raising campaign is intended.

The President said that five million children from poor families needed help with their schooling. He urged wealthy Indonesians to join the National Foster Parents Movement.

Without their assistance the children may not be able to continue their schooling, he said.

On youths, President Soeharto acknowledged that young people needed effective ways to channel their potential and energy productively.

"One of the reasons for growing delinquency, brawling and drug abuse by youths is the shortage of appropriate forums to channel their potential," he said. Part of the problem is that young people today have ample spare time, he said.

"Karang Taruna could be the forum through which young people channel and develop their talents, interests and hobbies," he said.

The organization could also be used to guide young people, especially in villages, to stay away from behavior that is detrimental to themselves and others, he added. (emb)