Rural works (capital assistance paper)

The project, the objectives of which will be determined in accordance with GOI"s second Five Year Plan (PELITA II, 1974-1979), will be implemented by the Directorate for Manpower Development and Utilization of the GOI"s Department of Manpower, Transmigration and Cooperatiives (the general equivalent of the U.S. Department of Labor). Basic production-related infrastructure subprojects will be initiated at the subdistrict or kecamatan level, that level of local government that is both close to the people and broad enough in reach to support a program with significant impact. Subprojects will include land clearing; terracing and planting to prevent erosion; and improvement and construction of facilities such as irrigation canals, rural roads, small dams, and rural bridges. Subprojects will be selected in accordance with the following criteria: (1) that they result in a substantive improvement in the area"s basic capacity for agricultural production and local income, with preference to be given to subprojects having a potential for long-term employment opportunities for maintenance or service after subproject completion; (2) that subprojects be labor-intensive in order to afford employment to as many local people as possible; (3) that subprojects conform to development plans prepared at the kabupatan (district) and provincial levels, at both of which levels subproject selection will be reviewed; and (4) that subprojects conform in size and scope to the local need for work and the availability of labor within a reasonable distance of the subproject site, e.g., that subprojects be close to home and normally be capable of completion within three to six months. Subprojects will initially be implemented in 100 of Indonesia"s 3,000 kecamatans. Successful subprojects will then be replicated in other areas.