Big palm oil plan waits approval
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Finance has not yet approved a plan by some state-owned firms to establish 102,000 hectares of oil palm plantations in Irian Jaya, Minister of Agriculture Sjarifudin Baharsjah said yesterday.
Sjarifudin said the minister of finance, as the nominee government shareholder in all state companies, had been briefed on the plan, but an approval would take time because developing a the large plantation project meant "going through certain procedures".
The executives of 14 state-owned plantation firms under the Ministry of Agriculture -- namely PT Perkebunan Nusantara I through XIV -- agreed last month to form a consortium to establish a huge integrated oil palm estate in Irian Jaya.
The project to develop 102,000 hectares of oil palm estates and 11 processing units is expected to produce up to 606,000 tons of crude palm oil (CPO) a year.
The project needs a Rp 1.03 trillion ($447.82 million) investment, 35 percent of which is expected to come from the consortium and the rest from bank loans.
Sjarifudin said, after installing new officials at his office, that profits from the project would be distributed proportionally among the 14 state firms according to their stakes.
Development of the oil palm estate is expected to take 10 years because only 10,000 hectares would be planted each year.
Two processing plants and 13,500 hectares of oil palm estates have been established in the Arso sub-district of Jayapura regency and in the Prafi sub-district of Manokwari. These are all managed by Perkebunan Nusantara II.
"After the project is completed, a new company, namely PT Perkebunan XV, will be established," Sjarifudin was quoted by Antara as saying.
Sjarifudin installed Ato Suprapto yesterday as the new chairman of the ministry's Agribusiness Agency, replacing Silvia Marsudi. He also installed Pamade Bambang Trenggono as a member of the state-owned Perum Prasarana Perikanan Samudera's board of controllers and Rachmat Soebiarpradja as chief commissioner of Perkebunan Nusantara XIII. (pwn)