Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) students conducted Student Community Service Programme in a transmigration area of Nagari Padang Tarok, Sijunjung regency, West Sumatra.
The students did an area mapping and identification of needs in order to improve the economy of the local residents. For one week the students mapped the area and potential, agriculture as well as horticulture demo plot making.
“We also build water purification facilities and explore water resources that can meet their needs,” said Faizal Fahmi, student, in a release sent to journalists on Monday (19/8).
According to Fahmi, they recorded several issues that need to be overseen by the government such as improvement of basic infrastructures (road, electricity, and water). The residents also need seeds of commodity of excellence such as cocoa, lemon grass, jackfruit, durian, stinky beans, coffee, etc.
Fahmi explained it was difficult to access the area because there was no paved road there, making transportation difficult, even inaccessible during the rainy season.
“Road improvement and access to electricity in the area will ease the entrance of daily needs of the residents as well as the marketing of the local agricultural products. During this time plenty of the products had gone bad due to the difficult access,” he said.
Field student supervisor, Teguh Yuwono, added another problem was the 1.25 ha areas of cultivation that had been promised by the government in fact were not ready.
Reportedly, there are 200 families who have been living in this transmigration area since 2016, they are divided into three blocks. Some of them came from Central Java and Yogyakarta while the rest came from the local transmigrants of West Sumatra. Despite visits by Central Java Governor in 2018, infrastructures and facilities for this area have yet to materialise.