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The transmigration program was a plan that was initiated by the Government of Indonesia to move the human resource and population from the dense regions to the less dense regions. This was through the movement of people from the areas of Java, Madura and Bali to the less populous areas of Kalimantan, Papua, Sulawesi and Sumatra. Its aim was to decrease overpopulation and poverty and increase employment opportunities (Hollie 1981).
The transmigration is an important aspect in the development of Indonesia. This process began in early 1905 and was associated with small scale movement that was sponsored by the Dutch colonial government from the region of Java and its surrounding. The population was to be moved to the outer islands. It was then taken up by the Indonesian government in a large state plan in which it expected to move thousands of families. During this period this policy has been subject to unrealistic and overambitious aims which in result have made the transmigration program to endure internal crisis which the Indonesian government have continued to solve and develop. Even though there are various short falls in this project, it has been remarked as among the best programs that have been used to move human resource in Asia which has moved millions (Rigg 1990: 80 – 108).
Social
The social aspects that were associated with infrastructure were better compared to the Java or Bali areas. The settlers gave a lot of marks to the education sector as an important benefit in their transmigration because many schools were constructed and fees was cheaper compared to Java and Bali, hence, parents were able to educate their children. Most children were able to access primary education while on the scale of higher education the presence of the girl child was higher. (Dijk, 2001).
The homes that they lived were cheap to own and to maintain. There were no taxes that were imposed to the population and the uses of various resources were cheaper. An example is the fuel where most people used firewood. The health care facilities were better compared to other regions of Indonesia. The health care centers were many and they were located in areas with higher population. The expenses that were associated with hospitals were comparatively cheaper.
The status of women was elaborated in terms of income. The women within this areas received better acknowledgment compared to their counterparts in Java and Bali because they contributed substantially to the family income. Their income came from farming, handcrafts, home industries, work on the agricultural estates and trading. Through this activities they were 83 percent better compared to men. (Hardjono 1989: 427 – 439).
Women developed management role in the community. The communities future was viable and promising due to the participation of women; women groups, opportunities in savings and managed the social safety of the community. The collaboration of the women was strong, hence, there was no evident of absence of the extended families that they were linked with in the places that they left (MacAndrews 1978: 458 – 472).
The indigenous communities were adversely affected by the transmigration. The most affected community was the Kubu Rimba that had irreversible impact. The Kubu Rimba community is continually being displaced by the clearing of forest that is associated with the T2 which are planning to develop oil palm farms.
Economic
The population of Indonesia varies greatly in terms of density within the islands. In a population totaling 185 million people only about 85 million live outside the Java area and the area is approximately seven percent of the total land surface of Indonesia. The situation in Java consists of small agricultural holdings while the outside parts have a higher income compared to Java. The government moved around 3.6 million to the period of 1990 on the government expense and they were given land for farming, houses and support during their early development in the region.
The government expected that the communities would develop in terms of production of farming products to improve their income but the project didn’t develop. This was due to the fact there was less labor in terms of both family and animal and other negative factors: settlers’ lack of experience, preference on off-farm employment, erosion, soil degradation and the marketing of the farm produce. Only two groups (T1 and T3) out of the five groups were economically viable due to the fact of rubber production (MacAndrews 1978: 458 – 472).
The census that took place in 1993 revealed that those populations that were in T1, T2 and T3 in terms of income were higher as compared to the poverty level. The population that was in the region T1 was successful with a range of social, cultural and commercial activities. This shows that they had better living standards compared to the other groups.
The source of income let down many people in the farming income bracket and has shifted into off-farm employment. This is evident in the regions T2 and T3 but the future of T3 will be better when the tree crops come out of age (Friend 2003).
In those regions that were associated with rubber production the economy of the region begun to develop as cash began flowing. The settlers in this region (T1) were self reliant and economically independent. The T2 lacked the source of income due to lack of commercial crop. On the T3 areas half of the population felt that they were secure to rely on farming.
The bank process made a mark in the transmigration process. The bank played a major role in the integration of environmental and site selection planning. They also helped in developing reliable base for information so as to strengthen the transmigration process. They gave the Indonesian government the first country wide land and its development potential maps (MacAndrews 1978: 458 – 472).
Political
The political involvement of the movement was revealed in the recent past and its fragility as a unity government which was created under an authoritarianism political landscape. The use of government transmigration scheme with the help of the New Order Government has been used to bring unity in a country that is faced with disparate ethnic groups. The Javanese community which is the largest and seen as the politically correct community is the one that is moved. The use of transmigration of the Javanese into the ‘margin regions’ (Borneo, Jaya, Sulawesi and Sumatra) from the ‘center region’ (Java and Bali) makes the political body to be stable all through the geographical of the archipelago. (Ricklefs, 2001).
This project (transmigration) of late was sponsored by Suharto who was the then president. In 1998 after his reign ended, there was change of plans and an example was the 1 million Hectares of land that was supposed to be changed from peat wetland into a rice plant area collapsed. Also, the political and institutions changes which earlier governed the transmigration have been influenced by the substantial drawback after the 1997 economy fall and its crisis, influence of the IMF and the decentralization or the regional autonomy. It is then blanketed by the phenomena of the political and the environmental refugees (Schwarz 1994).
After the rise of President Wahid in 1999 he merged the Ministry of Transmigration and Forest Resettlement with the State Minister of Population to form the State Ministry of Transmigration and Population (SMTP). The aim of the SMTP is to make policies, while its implementation is done by the Population Administration and the Mobility Agency (PAMA).
The restructuring of the administration means that the transmigration will also be changed due to the decentralization of the authority to local government from the central government.
The State of Success
The people who were moved to the less dense areas were settled in the indigenous population areas. There was an extensive opposition from the indigenous people due to the intention of the program and the style of implementation.
This was because the indigenous population saw this as the government’s plan to exert more political and economic control over other parts of the country and to assert more pressure on its rule. The people who were associated with the movement and policy had no consideration to the customary or the adat land rights (McDonald 1980).
The transmigration has also been associated with the decrease of the rain forest because of deforestation due to increase in population occasioned by movement of people from one region to the next. This was due to the fact that this area was never inhabited before. After this settlement, the area was overgrazed resulting to various erosion related issues.
Also, the program’s aim was not fully achieved since the situation of the immigrants was not improved. The weather and soil of their original places (contained volcanic soil) like the Java and Bali were not the same as their new places. The living standard of the resettled population was lacking major needs such as water and education. (Hardjono, 1989: 427 – 439).
Lessons Learned
The transmigration has made a mark in agriculture. The aim of all farmers is securing a guaranteed income. The level of income was less important than security.
During the settlement projects some issues that must be critically looked into, like field investigation should be planned in advance before the settlement project begins. With the help of institutions and a strong as well as stable strategy and plans will result in successful project implementation.
The building of the transmigration society should be undertaken differently from the building of the local capacity. The local administration should be charged with the responsibility of running the project during the implementation and should provide the right support and must be supervised by the central authority through a project group or unit (Taylor 2003).
Conclusion
Indonesia is an example of a country that is feeling the pressure of large population concentrated in a small area. The estimate that 864 people live in a square kilometer is among the highest recorded density. The aim of the Indonesian government is to move the landless peasants from the areas of central islands; Bali and Java to the outer islands; Borneo, Jaya, Sulawesi and Sumatra. By moving this multitude the government will fulfill the dream of developing the margin or ‘useless’ lands through construction of hospitals, infrastructure and schools.
The outer islands serves as the rain collection area and also it holds indigenous communities. The forests are reduced to farm lands and the indigenous communities are further displaced and soon they may turn up being the landless community.
The plans of the government to develop agricultural institutions yielded small fruits and others collapsed after they were established. This was due to factors such as poor agricultural experience and the amount of family labor. Other areas such as the Kalimantan which contained peat forest were difficult to cultivate.
Even though there are small economical benefits in certain areas, the communities feel that they were let down by the government. This is seen in those areas where there is no stable agricultural product.
References
Dijk, K.(2001). A country in despair; Indonesia between 1997 and 2000, Leiden: Kitlv Press.
Friend, T. (2003). Indonesian Destinies, New York: Harvard University Press.
Hardjono, J. (1989). The Indonesian transmigration program in historical perspective, International Migration 26:427 – 439.
Hollie, P. (1981). Jakarta fights overcrowding Bali and Java. The New York Times.
MacAndrews, C. (1978). Transmigration in Indonesia: prospects and problems. Asian Survey 18(5):458-472.
McDonald, H. (1980). Suharto’s Indonesia, Australia: Fontana Books.
McGlynn, J. (2007). Indonesia in the Suharto years; Issue, incidents and images, Jakarta: Cambridge University Press.
Ricklefs, M. (1991). A History of Modern Indonesia since c.1300, 2nd edition, Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Ricklefs, M. (2001). A History of Modern Indonesia since c.1200, 3rd Edition, Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Rigg, J. (1991) Land settlement in Southeast Asia: the Indonesian transmigration program. In: Southeast Asia: a region in transition. London: Unwin Hyman Press: 80-108.
Schwarz, A. (1994). A Nation in Waiting: Indonesia’s Search for Stability. NSW: Allen & Unwin Press.
Taylor, J. (2003). Indonesia: Peoples and histories. New Haven: Yale University Press.
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