Letter: Corruption and the fate of farmers
The Jakarta Post | Tue, 12/28/2010 10:26 AM
This refers to the article “Govt allocates Rp 3t for food security” (The Jakarta Post, Dec. 23).
“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and
you have fed him for a lifetime.” Will some of that money not be better
spent if it goes to teaching farmers techniques and methods to improve
their harvests and/or cope with the adverse effects of drought.
Since the autonomy laws took effect, agricultural extension services
have declined drastically because regencies do not allocate much in
their budgets for such mundane tasks.
Furthermore, it is not easy to steal money through corrupt practices
from extension services. For many years now farmers in East Nusa
Tenggara have been left on their own.
But, because of the adverse effects of the climate there many die of
starvation or treatable/preventable diseases because many are too weak
and undernourished.
Government funds budgeted for agriculture or food aid are not finding
their way to rural communities that are in need. Corruption in
government systems is so rife that even food for the poor is stolen and
sold on the open market.
The question is: Who will stop this unbelievable corruption? It seems
that regents, the governor and ministers are not the least interested in
naming names. What about our President?
Henry Manoe
Kupang
