Transmigrants seek jobs

Transmigrants seek jobs

PALU, Central Sulawesi: Tens of transmigrant families at the
Sidera resettlement sites have been forced to seek jobs 10
kilometers away in Palu because their allotted land is not yet
productive, Antara reported Monday.

The resettlers from Central Java and East Nusa Tenggara said
they had to survive as their land had not produced anything while
their food supplies dwindled and the government refused to
restock them.

The families at the Sidera resettlement sites in the Sigi
Biromaru district, Donggala regency, have been forced to work in
Palu on rice fields or for housing projects.

Resettlers Agustinus, 30, Nicolas, 30 and Samsiar, a mother of
four children, said they were paid Rp 5,000 a day in Palu.

The families have been resettling at the sites since January
1996. In return they received 15 kilograms of rice and Rp 50,400.

Their land was expected to be productive within a year, but it
has lacked irrigation since two pumps broke down.

Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo, who recently
campaigned at the Central Sulawesi site, did not know about the
irrigation problems, Antara reported. (sur)