More than 84 Percent of Backward Areas in East Indonesia

Jakarta, (Antara) - More than 84 percent of backward areas in Indonesia are found in eastern part of the country, an official said .

There are 103 districts categorized as backward in eastern part of the country, Director General of Development of Backward Areas Suprayoga Hadi said.

He said there are four factors keeping the backward areas lagging behind -- poor quality and small quantity of human resources, inadequate infrastructure, exploitation of natural resources being not optimum, and limited availability of basic services .

He said the budget set aside for the development of certain backward areas this year declined  from Rp1.5 trillion in 2015 to Rp1 trillion in 2016.

Around 77 percent of the budget is for development of frontier areas   and outermost islands, he said here on Sunday.

There is additional fund of Rp500 billion for  the development of frontiers ares and outermost islands this year, he said.

"It is because we are being focused on development of frontier area now," he added.

He said the government is building roads  and other basic facilities  in outermost islands, adding this year roads would be built in 10 districts and solar power plants in five districts.

"Around 20 percent of our development budget is for pivotal roads. We also provide assistance in water purification equipment as many backward areas are facing shortage in supply of clean water," he said.

The ministry of development of backward rural areas also provides assistance in passenger boats , cargo vessels  and development of quays to facilitate economic development, he said.(*)