Govt goes ahead with sugar program despite criticism<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government said it planned to continue with the program of
\nproviding sugarcane farmers with new high-yield seeds to address
\nthe problems in the country's ailing sugar industry.<\/p>\n
Minister of Agriculture Bungaran Saragih told The Jakarta Post
\nlast week that the government would continue to provide the
\ncountry's sugarcane growers with approximately Rp 68 billion
\n(US$8 million) in grants and Rp 1 trillion in soft loans per year
\nuntil 2005 to help replant their fields using the new seeds.<\/p>\n
\"With that money, growers can replace their old sugarcane
\nwith new high-quality seeds to increase output. With such aid we
\nhope that Indonesia will be able to export sugar by 2007,\" said
\nBungaran.<\/p>\n
From being the world's second largest sugar producer in the
\nDutch colonial era, Indonesia has move so far backwards that is
\nnow the world's second largest sugar importer, behind only
\nRussia.<\/p>\n
The program, which was launched in September last year, has
\nsparked criticism from the Indonesian Association of Sugarcane
\nGrowers (APTRI), who said much of the aid money had ended up in
\nthe hands of people who are not farmers, but instead were people
\nconnected to state-owned plantation firms.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, association chairman Arum Sabil said last week
\nthat the program was ineffective because the main problem in the
\ncountry's sugar industry was the old machinery still being used
\nand their inefficient labor force.<\/p>\n
He said that rather than spending large amounts of money on
\nnew seeds, the government needed to replace the old, outmoded
\nsugar mills.<\/p>\n
Bungaran claimed that the government did not have enough money
\nto spend on both seeds and sugar mills.<\/p>\n
\"There are over 56 sugar factories in Indonesia. We would need
\na large amount of money to revitalize them. We can't do it now,
\nbut maybe in the next two or three years we can. So we have to
\nprioritize sugarcane seeds,\" said Bungaran.<\/p>\n
He said the reason that he put the priority on new seeds was
\nbecause many plants in Indonesia had been replanted more than 15
\ntimes, while they should not be replanted, using shoots from
\nharvested plants, more than three times.<\/p>\n
The minister disagreed with Arum, saying that growers should
\nnot blame the low production on the factories, because in Cuba,
\nsugar factories were older than those in Indonesia, but were
\nstill able to produce more.<\/p>\n
Responding to criticisms about inefficient human resources at
\nthe nation's sugar factories, which are mostly state-owned,
\nBungaran said that he had written a letter to State Minister of
\nState Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi to improve the management and
\nhuman resources at the factories.<\/p>\n
As for the disbursement of the money to the wrong people,
\nBungaran passed the blame on to the farmers.<\/p>\n
\"If it is true that the funds end up in the hands of non-
\nfarmers, it is the farmers' own fault. They are responsible for
\nthe funds. We have done everything we can for the benefit of the
\nfarmers,\" he disclosed.<\/p>\n
Bungaran was optimistic that the self-sufficiency and export
\ntarget in 2007 was achievable, despite pessimism expressed by
\nstate-owned sugar factory operators during a hearing with the
\nHouse of Representatives early last month.<\/p>\n
The firms reported that the sugarcane rehabilitation program
\nin their respective areas had not gone ahead as scheduled due to
\nmany factors, such as drought and the loss of interest by
\nsugarcane farmers because of the low sugar prices.<\/p>\n
Bungaran added that the result of this year's acceleration
\nplan, would not be seen for a few years.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-goes-ahead-with-sugar-program-despite-criticism-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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