Thousands in East Flores turn to tree fruit and leaves

JAKARTA (JP): East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Governor Piet Alexander Talo said about 13,000 people in East Flores regency are having to survive on the fruits of mangrove jujube trees and the leaves of tamarind trees as they could no longer afford to buy rice.

The governor could not hide his anger when regent Hendrikus Henky Mukin reportedly attempted to cover up the situation and told him in a meeting that people consumed the fruits or leaves not because they were starving but due to their consumption habits.

"It (such consumption) is something common for local people. Press reports that people are facing starvation are an exaggeration," Mukin told the governor when the latter visited the regency on Friday.

"When people are starving, do not to try to cover it. This is a matter of stomachs," Talo retorted. The governor is remembered by many because when he was still a regent he smeared mud on the faces of people he found asleep during working hours, insisting that it was a traditional punishment for lazy people.

Antara has reported that villagers in Dulitukan, Tagawiti, and Kolipadan on Lembata island, famous for its traditional whale hunting, had rarely eaten rice in the last three months as the price of the commodity had skyrocketed.

In Sikka regency, the governor also found that at least 45 villages were suffering food shortages.

The Ministry of Social Services has sent 165 metric tons of rice to Sikka. It was sold at subsidized prices for people who worked on government-sponsored labor-intensive projects.

The government launched a four-month aid program in July under which it provides 750,000 metric tons of medium-quality rice at Rp 1,000 per kilogram to 7.35 million families whose earnings are insufficient to bring them out of poverty. Each family can buy up to 10 kgs per month.

The last stage of the Rp 503 billion program (US$ 38.7 million), starting in October, will cover millions of poor families nationwide.

The program is proving far from sufficient. Reports of hunger, and looting of foodstuffs are increasing, showing that the situation is continuing to worsen.

In some Central Java areas, for instance, situations have been found where people resorted to stealing cooked rice from food stalls or neighbors to satisfy their hunger. In some East Java towns, villagers pillaged rice mills and general food stores last week.

The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned in July that the problem of food shortages would haunt the country in the coming months as the impacts of last year's El Nio and this year's La Nia took their toll.

"The prices of food and other basic necessities have risen sharply, amid rapidly increasing unemployment, thus seriously eroding the purchasing power of a large segment of the population," the FAO said in its report.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) the number of Indonesians living below the poverty line will reach 95.8 million by the end of this year, or about 48 percent of the total population of 203 million.

Before the crisis last year, 22 million people were included in this category. (prb)