Bad news for Indonesian environmental and aid organisations: There is hardly any reason anymore for them to knock on Development Cooperation Minister Ben Knapen’s door. He is just back from a working visit to the Southeast Asian nation. For the Indonesians it was the first confrontation with the new development policy of their former colonial masters.

It’s no longer about charity and it no longer focuses on healthcare and education. Minister Knapen was sent to deliver the message that it’s about time Indonesia took care of this type of issue themselves.

According to Mr Knapen: “Indonesia is no longer a dirt-poor nation. Even though there are still 100 million poor to very poor Indonesians, the country also boasts a growing middle class and an extremely wealthy elite. There is really no longer any need for us to help the entire country. Those days are gone.”

Dam near Jakarta
Money is the primary motive of the new development cooperation policy. The Netherlands will continue to give aid, but in future will expect something in return. Like orders for its businesses. Mr Knapen arrived in Jakarta with four million euros in his pockets, money that is to help fund a massive coastal defence project. A dam is to be built and land reclaimed as part of a multi-billion-euro project on a par with the Delta Works, the major coastal defence projects initiated in the Netherlands after the disastrous 1953 floods which claimed more than 1,800 lives.

Those four million euros are intended to draw up detailed plans and conduct cost calculations. And when the project is actually being undertaken, Dutch companies are to join in. Not just in this project, but as a precondition to any development aid, which will be totally focussed on the economy.

‘Enlightened self-interest’
It all sounds a tad selfish, so Ben Knapen has been working hard to make it all sound a little better. “I call it enlightened self-interest,” he says. “It’s all about helping this country and its people move forward. And when the economy improves, Indonesia becomes a mature economic partner with which we enjoy a good relationship, it could also benefit Dutch industry. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

And he argues that this new policy is not even entirely new. “We didn’t invent everything all over again. Much of what we want was already set in motion by previous governments." He adds reassuringly that the ‘soft’ development aid for more idealistic subjects such education and healthcare may disappear, but it won’t happen all at once. “It will happen gradually.”

Self reliance
And yet he was the bearer of bad tidings for a big group of environmental and aid organisations which he met in Pontianak. He is no longer the man to see about issues such as empowerment of local populations, safeguarding indigenous cultures, women’s liberation or human rights. “From here on you will have to deal with these issues yourself,” says the deputy minister. “The time that we told people how to lead their lives is over.”

Knapen came to Pontianak to take stock of its rainforest. A plane tour of the region came as a shocking experience: most of it is gone. “From the air, you can see really well how large the sections are that have been cut. They are really huge, and the guide told me that it all happened illegally. It will take some doing before they can start producing ‘sustainable’ palm oil around here.”

Orang-utans
Sustainability is one of the spear points of the minister’s policy. Sustainable forestry helps the forest, the orang utans, the local population and the environment. However, as before, money, not idealism, is the primary motive to persuade Indonesia to join the programme. Since last year, Europe has started blocking imports of non-sustainable palm oil and timber.

“Indonesia was angry about that. It was seen as a form of protectionism and an impediment to the Indonesian economy. However, I met Economic Affairs Minister Hatta Rajasa in Jakarta and he now understands that it can be worthwhile to switch over to sustainable production. Because, if you do it right, good money can be made from it.”

Making a profit
The Dutch deputy development cooperation minister argues that it would be foolish to expect that sustainable production will take off in Indonesia without the promise of making a profit as an incentive. “If companies do it just because it looks good on their resumés it will all blow over in no time.”

The programme in Pontianak was brief. The governor cancelled, and the Kalimantan business community passed up on the opportunity to meet Mr Knapen. Maybe they were afraid he – like other foreign politicians - had come to lecture them on corruption, environmental pollution and whatever else they might be doing wrong. The only official willing to meet the Dutch minister was the local police commander. He seemed relieved when he was able to bid the foreign minister an amicable goodbye without having been lectured to.

(gsh/imm)