Republic of the South Moluccas

chapter 3:

THE ECONOMIC POTENTIAL OF THE MOLUCCAS

Since the 16th century Portuguese and Dutch capitalism coveted our economical richesses and practiced a policy of monopoly and exploitation (1). They were in fact the ones, who needed our natural products, we didn't really need their goods we were economically independent. They were the ones, who made an end to our economical independence with cruel means.

Nowadays the Moluccan nature has available huge economic richesses, as well in the woods as in the leas. The total surface of the Moluccan Islands is about 2½ times the surface of the Netherlands. And the richesses of the leas are even more abundant than the richesses of the land.

This can be illustrated by many things; a few facts are compiled below:

(a) Exportproducts.

• Forest products for export: cloves, nutmeg, mace and various bird species, like the bird of paradise.
• Sea products for export: fish, shrimps, pearls and sea vegetation, which is in use by the cosmetical industry.
• Minerals like oil, nickel, bauxite, and many others, which are partly still unknown.

(b) Products, important for the population.

• Sago tree, providing with 90% of the food and house holding material; sago­-flower is used for food and "sago leave and  branches" (atap and gaba2) for house building.
• Coco tree: the coconut is used as fresh fruit, for the production of oil, but­ter, soap, etc.
• Gemutu tree, like the coco tree, provides with sugar, alcohol and vinegar, the whole year over.

(c) Monopoly and extirpation.

• Since 1621, until 1699, 75% of all the production means (clove  and nutmeg­ -trees) on the isles of Banda, Ceram, Buru and Halmahera were destroyed by the Dutch monopoly system.
• Our traditional social and political system was from 1605 on systematically destroyed by the Dutch deportation policy (see chapter 5).
• Since 1950 until the present day our natural products are arbitrarily harves­ted and destroyed by the Indonesian neo colonial system. Thousands of acres of fertile soil in seventeen districts are made useless by erosion. More and more trees are cut down, without being replaced by new ones, and sold by and for the benefit of the armed force.

(d) Support for the suppression in the Moluccas.

The Dutch government continually is talking about development aid to the Moluccas, but from experience it has been shown, that Dutch aid means nothing but support to the power of the Javanese generals in their exploitation of the Moluccas, which results in impoverishment and starvation in our fatherland.

(e) Maluku is not the Fourth World.

In the monthly PANDA of the World Nature Fund, Dutch Section, in the issue of December 1980 is published a report on the Moluccas (2). The conclusion is, that the nature of the Moluccas is rich and unique. Maluku is no Fourth World!