Kendari – Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare Jusuf Kalla warned on Friday that if Jakarta continued to disregard development in the eastern part of the country, it would lead to the disintegration of Indonesia.

Speaking in his capacity as an executive of the Golkar Party, Kalla said, "all sides related to this nation, especially the government, have to pay more heed to development in eastern parts of the archiplego."

As a native of Sulawesi, Kalla disclosed that he had struggled to help boost development in the region for years because he witnessed a great disparity in development between the eastern region and the western region.

The government has to be just in implementing development in all sectors, he said, adding that whatever the reason there should be no need to differentiate when it came to development programs.

He cited as an example that the intention of a number of provinces, including Aceh from the far western part, to separate from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, was caused initially by the unfairness in the distribution of the fruits of development.

"Development of the eastern region can no longer be done through a presidential decree, but by determination on the part of the central government and the local people themselves," he said.

Kalla said that the most important thing needed by the eastern region was development in education. Without adequate skilled human resources, it will not be easy to tap the abundant natural resources, he added.