“WE DON’T want any more wars or politics. What we really need now is enough food, good education and quality health services for our kids”. This remark by 30-year-old Ambonese resident Hendrik Pohwain reflects the views of many in eastern Indonesia’s former conflict zones.
Beginning in 1999, Ambon, the provincial capital of Central Maluku, was rocked by four years of intercommunal violence between Christians and Muslims that destroyed large parts of the city. The bloody combat also produced thousands of refugees.
Strong action by the security forces brought the situation under control in 2002. Apart from a spate of bombings in April 2004, Ambon has been relatively peaceful since. Other areas of eastern Indonesia that experienced similar violence around the same time include Ternate in North Maluku and Poso in Central Sulawesi.
But while peace has been restored, the economic recovery is far from complete. Last month, I met the chairman of Central Maluku’s Regional Investment Board, Mr Rahman Soumena, to find out what the provincial administration was doing to revive the economy. His reply was simple and to the point: “We need to convince them (local and foreign investors) that Maluku is safe.”
During the conflict years, many fishing companies based in Maluku relocated to the comparative safety of South-east or North Sulawesi, leaving Maluku’s fish processing and storage facilities idle. Tourism ceased, and several mining companies also stopped operating. That left the economy largely dependent on agriculture, notably the production of rice, copra and spices.
Before 1999, Mr Soumena pointed out, 89 domestic and foreign investors were registered with his organisation to obtain various official incentives. Now, more than seven years after the violence ended, there are still only 42 registered. Eighteen of these companies are domestic and 24 are foreign owned. Depressing as those figures sound, the situation is much better than in 2008, when only 14 such foreign companies thought the province was safe enough to operate in.
Maluku has about 1.4 million people, whose religious loyalties are divided more or less equally between Islam and Christianity. A separatist movement with strong ties to the Netherlands proclaimed its independence from Indonesia in 1950 but was quickly put down by the Indonesian military and now has very few followers.
For years, Maluku’s economic growth has lagged behind the national average. Poverty levels are also significantly higher. More than 28 per cent of Central Malukuans are officially listed as living at or below the poverty line, compared to just 14 per cent of all Indonesians.
Still, there are some hopeful signs. Relations between Christians and Muslims have improved dramatically in recent years. But occasional reports of violence suggest that problems remain. On Dec 9, 2008, a major riot took place in Masohi (the main town on Seram island) after a Christian elementary school teacher allegedly blasphemed Islam several days earlier in the presence of her students. Dozens of houses were razed, as were a church, a clinic and a village hall. Police were later criticised for not heeding warnings of unrest prior to the violence.
By placing their faith in a former general, voters in Central Maluku have responded to the violence in much the same way as the country as a whole. Governor Karel Albert Ralahalu, sworn in as governor in September 2003 and re-elected in 2008, is a retired brigadier-general. Indeed, the parallels with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono are remarkable. Like Dr Yudhoyono, Mr Ralahalu is regarded as a passable singer who writes his own songs. He composed the lyrics of a song to commemorate the opening of the Sail Banda international yachting competition in July. The event – the first of its kind in the province – was designed to stimulate the local tourism sector.
Reflecting the improving tourism sector, the province’s first five-star hotel opened in June. Last month, Indonesia’s Lippo Group also expressed an interest in establishing a range of businesses in the province, particularly in the retail trade, hotels, education and health.
Although still above the national average, unemployment figures are also declining. Unemployment, which officially stood at 18 per cent in 2004, had fallen to 10.4 per cent by February last year – the last date for which figures are available.
Meanwhile, the efforts of the provincial government to make the local bureaucracy more business friendly has received some recognition in Jakarta. Along with 10 other regional governments, Central Maluku was shortlisted for an award by Jakarta’s Investment Coordinating Board this year for its success in establishing a one-stop shop for potential investors seeking government licences. As things turned out, the province didn’t win anything, but the progress was encouraging.
Even so, it will be some time yet before Malukuans like Mr Pohwain get the food, education and quality health services they so obviously desire.
Copyright © 2011 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd