Even after moving to land, the Suku Laut sea tribe of Air Mas Island in Batam, Riau Island province, has not escaped a life of poverty.
Dozens of the tribe’s families remain poor and uneducated, and officials and other residents consider them a backward people.
Some tribe members say the government has failed to make efforts to educate them, and help them live independently and according to social norms on land.
There are a large number of children in each Suku Laut family; one family in the tribe has 14 children.
A Suku Laut tribal chief at the Air Mas settlement, Muhammad Din, 62, said the families started moving to the island in 2002, with assistance from various agencies and non-governmental organizations that provided them with permanent wooden homes.
Din said their lives had not changed much since moving to land. The income they earn from fishing is still far from sufficient, so too is their children’s education.
Din acknowledged that he did not pay much attention to his children’s education due to limited resources.
“I sometimes earn only Rp 20,000 (US$2.20) a day. Thankfully, my children will eat whatever food is laid on the table,” he said.
The father of 14 said facilities on the island were limited and far from expectations, despite its close proximity with Batam, which is known as an industrial city.
He said his tribespeople had a habit of asking visitors to the island for money.
“But, they seem to be growing out of this habit, since TV stations have been paying them to film their daily activities.”
His fellow tribesmen and women, he said, are willing to act out their everyday lives — such as cooking activities, bathing and sleeping on their boats — depending on the amount they are paid.
“It all depends on how much the TV stations are willing to pay.”
However, Din says this role as accidental “actors” has not provided long-term improvements to the lives of the people in the tribe, as most of the money they earn from their filming is immediately spent.
There is no furniture in Din’s house. A piece of mat covers the floor of the guest room. Only a kerosene stove and a few plates and glasses can be seen in the kitchen, with no table to place them on.
“There are too many things I must think of. I sometimes even forget my own children’s names,” said Din, taking a long drag on a clove cigarette.
Din’s children must travel to another island to attend school. Transportation is limited and motorboats are seldom used due to the high cost of fuel.
The island also lacks a community health center or clinic.
When members of the Batam municipality council visited the island on May 31, they were greeted by ramshackle houses built for the Suku Laut tribe at a cost of Rp 1.8 billion from the 2006 provincial budget.
Houses occupied by the Suku Laut were not equipped with doors and windows, thus requiring residents to cover open areas with plastic sheeting.
The council’s deputy speaker, Aris Hardy Halim, who was on the visit, expressed concerns over the condition of the houses, which had been built by the Batam municipality.
“Why do these houses have no doors and windows, despite the fact these items were included in the budget?” Aris asked. He said his office received a report from the tribe saying their houses had not been equipped with fixtures due to difficulties in obtaining the materials from Batam.
“We regret this situation and will endeavor to sort it out.”
Fadli, The Jakarta Post/Batam
June 29th, 2007
The Riau Islands provincial administration has offered the Haj Fund Board of Malaysia the opportunity to lease one of its islands for development.
Riau Islands Governor Ismeth Abdullah made the offer Monday to Minister in the Department of the Prime Minister Abdullah Mohammad Zein, during a ceremony to mark the opening of the fund board’s first palm oil refinery in Batam.
The new refinery will allow the fund board to enter the Chinese market, Malaysia’s top palm oil buyer for the past several years at more than two million tons annually.
The Haj Fund Board of Malaysia, or Lembaga Tabung Haji, owns oil palm estates in Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as teak plantations in Sabah and Sarawak, totaling about 129,663 hectares, according to Business Times.
“If interested Tabung Haji can lease one of the islands in Riau Islands for business development. There are many islands in Riau Islands province and they have the potential for the development of tourism and other businesses,” Ismeth said.
Ismeth said Tabung Haji had the financial clout to properly develop an island.
“Indonesia should learn from Tabung Haji Malaysia. Why doesn’t Indonesia, which sends up to 190,000 pilgrims on the haj annually, have any haj funds like Malaysia. We need to answer this question.”
The governor said the ability of Tabung Haji to build a refinery in Batam with an investment of up to US$15.5 million was an impressive achievement for the fund.
Responding to the offer, Abullah Mohammad Zein said the proposal was interesting and he would look into it.
“If leasing an island is possible for business development, we will possibly do it. This is a good offer.”
Ismeth said if Tabung Haji invested in an island in the province, it would have a multiplier effect on the investment climate in Riau Islands and encourage similar institutions to follow suit.
According to data from the provincial administration, there are at least 2,408 islands in Riau Island province, located in four regencies and two mayoralties. Nearly 40 percent are unoccupied and have not been officially named.
Ismeth also said Tabung Haji planned to build a residential complex in Batam for workers at companies owned by the fund.
Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam
June 29th, 2007
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government`s culture and tourism department is currently making preparations for the launching of a “Visit Indonesia Year” in the middle of 2007, a spokesman said.
“A `Visit Indonesai Year` (VIY) is now in the final phase of preparation. We will launch it in July or August,” Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik said here Tuesday.
Speaking after witnessing the signing of a cooperation agreement between the department and PT Garuda Indonesia, the minister said the preparations included the production of brochures, composition and arrangement of programs of events.
Meanwhile, Thamrin B Bachri, the culture and tourism department`s director general of marketing, said VIY 2008 would be declared as soon as its logo was completed.
“So what we are waiting for now is the completion of the logo. As soon as the logo and a guide on its use are finished, we will conduct a soft launching.” he said.
He said the most crucial thing in organizing the VIY was coordination between the department in Jakarta and the tourism offices in all of the country`s regions on the time and venues of as many as 100 top touristic events during the year.
“The events must be prepared and executed with high accuracy,” he said , adding that the 100 planned events were expected to induce foreign tourists to come to Indonesia.
The department would also publish a booklet listing all the 100 events to be organized in many parts of the country, Thamrin said.
Minister Wacik said his ministry had proposed a budget of Rp153 billion for tourism develoment in 2007. Some 80 percent of the amount was to cover the cost of promoting Indonesia`s tourist destinations through advertisements in international televisions abroad.(*)
ANTARA News
June 29th, 2007