The outer islands were chosen due to the low densities of population and the amount of land for settlement. Transmigration exploited the potential of the outer islands.
What the programme entailed
Although in the beginning of the programme it was estimated 48 million people from Java alone would be moved within a 35-year period, a more realistic figure was later set of 2 million people every 5 years.
Transmigration takes place from the islands Java, Mandura, Bali and Lombok to Sumatara, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Irian Jaya. Between 1950 and 1984 Sumatara received 65% of transmigrants, Kalimantan received 18%, Sulawesi 14% and Irian Jaya 3%.
Migrating families have to fit a certain criteria. Each family must be healthy and all under the age of 40, preferably married with two-four children. Experience of farming is required without a criminal record. After a one-week training programme, the families are transported by air to their destinations to live in a four-roomed house provided by the government. Communities of migrants should consist of around 2,000 families, each family estimated at a cost of $10,000 to $12,000. They also receive land that is divided as 0.25 hectares for a garden, between 0.75 and 1.25 hectares for crops and 2 hectares of uncleared land. Migrants may receive 2 extra hectares for planting tree crops in some settlements; some may even receive a cow or water buffalo (one in ten settlers). Others are provided with necessities such as coffee crops or chickens/goats and tools or equipment are provided for a year. Amenities and infrastructure are the responsibility of the government.
Effects of the programme
The transmigration was branded an environmental disaster and an attempt of development fraud. However, attempts were made to glamorise the policy. The transmigration minister stated in 1984 that only 67 of the 800 sites needed reconstruction following failure. It was also claimed that many of the migrants from the inner islands of Indonesia preferred their new surroundings to the ones they migrated from. The income of migration in the outer islands is roughly 60% better compared to the inner islands. However other opinions conclude it is roughly 17% worse. 50% of people feel that income is better that two years ago whereas 25% feel it is worse. Transport is said to be 20% better than in Java, however a larger proportion of people at 60% feel that it is worse. 37% of migrants say health is better compared with 15% who claim it is worse.
Poor transport facilities are a main complaint and settlers are unable to attend the markets to sell their income. Therefore income of settlers has declined. This is a contributing factor to why poverty has been redistributed as opposed to being solved. Transmigrants are believed to be worse off than before they immigrated due to inadequate planning and site preparation, soil and water neglect. The goal of relieving congestion in Java has not been met, as transmigration has not even made a sizeable dent.
Failure to grow crops due to poor soil fertility (caused by not enough research of land/soil types) has resulted in failed sites. Many families have had to be redistributed at a further cost of $7,000 per family. In 1985 2,500 were relocated for a second time. This caused economic disaster in the 1980s, around 30-40% of the development budget of the outer islands was consumed.
To aid existing transmigrants, aid has had to be established from West Germany, resulting in the Transmigration Aid Development (TAD). Nutrition, public health, hydrology and animal husbandry have been projects of the TAD.
Settlers have gone into other employment driven by trading labour for food rations. Failed farmed crops have also encouraged this. Employment includes levelling the land, building terraces and conserving water and minimising soil erosion by using strip cropping and composting.
Statistical figures show that 10-15% of transmigrants return to their origin mainly due to mismanagement of the land, failing crops leading to a poor quality of life.
Environmentally, the scheme affected the rain forests. Around 1 million hectares of rain forest are lost per year because of logging, land clearing and shifting cultivation. The government has had to establish National Reserves and National Parks to preserve the decreasing rain forest.
Was the policy a success?
Although only 10-15% of transmigrants returned to their original destination and only 67 out of 800 of sites needed reconstruction, I feel that the transmigration of Indonesians was not a success.
I do not disagree that the policy has had success, however I do believe that the interruption of lifestyles due to failed farming and relocation of families, some for the second time, has hindered the lifestyle of the migrants. Alternative employment has been sought for payment in food rations. The form of payment shows how dire the lives of many individuals must be.
The serenity of the outer islands has been interrupted and environmental concerns have caused the establishment of protected areas at a cost to the government. Therefore I feel that the policy was not a success.
However with more management of the scheme and further research into improving the project I feel that it could be a success. Sustainability would have to be considered and the livelihood of the transmigrants.
