Transmigration and its failures

Transmigration and its failures

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo
yesterday blamed planning blunders for the failure of many
transmigration projects.

"These failures are usually caused by errors made by the
designing consultants and officials," he said. Officials often
appoint the wrong consultant and fail to control or supervise the
transmigration program properly, he added.

Opening of a two-day workshop on improving the design of
transmigration sites, Siswono said the government's resettlement
program does not always meet expectations.

He said that isolated locations with a lack of access roads
were often chosen a sites. There were also cases where the land
was extremely barren, or the land overlapped mining concessions
or encroached on the property of local tribes.

The minister noted that poor coordination between government
agencies, errors in design details and input as well as
inadequate supervision had caused some of the failures.

Siswono said the mistakes were "understandable".

"The blunders were not deliberate. We should understand that
the areas outside Java -- which, for instance, are very
mountainous and swampy in places -- are very different.
Therefore, what is planned in Java, does not always coincide with
the reality in these areas and mistakes occur," he said.

Siswono said that the government has earmarked more than Rp
1.1 trillion (US$500 million) for transmigration for the fiscal
year starting in April. This includes the restoration of 56
transmigration sites which are now facing troubles, he said.

Siswono encouraged workshop participants to find a better
method of clearing land than burning.

"I am sure there is a way the wood can be decomposed into some
kind of fertilizer," he said.

Last year, huge fires destroyed large forests in Kalimantan
and Sumatra, causing a haze which disturbed neighboring Singapore
and Malaysia.

Poor people living on Java, Madura, Bali and Lombok are given
priority in the transmigration program. According to government
statistics, almost 12 million people have been moved so far.

Most of the people are tenant farmers, fishermen, unemployed
people, drop-outs, unskilled workers and semi-nomad farmers.

The average population density on the island of Java is 840
people per square kilometer. (pwn)