Kemendes PDTT: Ideally 4 Thousand Families Transmigrate Per Year

Location of transmigration placement in Simeulue Regency, Aceh. (Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration (Kemendes PDTT) stated that the number and placement of prospective transmigrants to transmigration locations every year is still not ideal.

This was conveyed by the Director of Population Distribution Arrangement, Directorate General of Preparation of Transmigration Areas at the Kemendes PDTT Anto Pribadi after attending the transmigration socialization in Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta Special Region (DIY), Tuesday 12 July.

"Currently, the average is still a thousand families per year, even under a thousand, very less, ideally around four thousand families," said Anto.

He mentioned, that even though the interest or interest of the people in urban areas to take part in the transmigration program outside Java is quite high.

As in Bantul Regency, he continued, there were five thousand families, but 15 families departed this year.

"Only here, I hear that 5,000 families are interested, only the budgeting factor, then if I see transmigration it should be a joint commitment, because in the past it was a transmigration movement," he said, according to Antara.

He said that he once described that if Indonesia were without transmigration, there would be inequality in various sectors, so the transmigration program should be a national priority.

"In Indonesia without transmigration, there must be crippled sectors, including food security, then health problems, population emergencies. If I can only convey why it is not a national priority, even though it is one of the 'medicines' to deal with population emergencies," he said.

He said, especially in every region in Java, including in Bantul Regency, every year the function is converted into housing, and business buildings which have an impact on increasing the population, so if it is not followed by transmigration, it can have an impact on food security.

"Therefore, it is necessary to invigorate this transmigration again, and the government cannot do it alone, it must be together, so that Indonesia will be crippled, impacting food security," he added.

Anto added that the island of Java, which covers an area of about 128 thousand square kilometers with a population of about 60 million people, while he took the example of East Kalimantan, which is the location of the National Capital City (IKN), has an area of about 129 thousand square kilometers, but the population is less than four million people.

"This doesn't make sense, so if Indonesia controls the population emergency, there are only two, transmigration and family planning.