C. Kalimantan to convert forests into plantations

C. Kalimantan to convert forests into plantations

JAKARTA (JP): Central Kalimantan's Provincial Government has
revealed a new master plan, stipulating 1.7 million hectares of
land, originally designated as protected forest, would be used
for agricultural plantations.

Deputy of the Local Development Planning Agency, Benhart
Benung, said the new master plan decreased protected forest areas
from 3.4 million hectares, to 1.7 million hectares, to make way
for the plantations.

As a result, cultivated land in Central Kalimantan will now
expand to 13.6 million hectares, up from 11.9 million hectares
previously.

Benhart stated most of the new farm areas were part of the
government's one-million hectare rice field project, currently
under development. The project overlaps at least three regencies
in the province, he said.

The million-hectare project, which started earlier this year,
was designed to enable Indonesia to regain self-sufficiency in
rice production. The project involves the conversion of one
million hectares of peat land, into rice fields and agricultural
plantations.

Benhart said the changes to the provincial master plan were
made to comply with the local Conversion Forest Utilization Plan,
issued by the Ministry of Forestry.

"Variations between the two spatial outlines, previously made
it difficult for the local government to develop the province's
plantation sector," he said, as quoted by Antara.

He said the old master plan often posed problems for
prospective investors, who had to seek a license to convert
forests into agricultural areas.

The licenses are issued by the local office of the Ministry of
Forestry, and not by the provincial administration.

Head of the local Plantation Office, Hendry Nahan, said some
investors had been forced to wait a year to obtain licenses for
their plantation projects.

To date, about 163 investors have submitted proposals to
establish more than 2.2 million hectares of plantations, Hendry
said.

Of these, 142 investors planning to develop 1.5 million
hectares of agricultural areas have obtained recommendations and
location permits from the Governor. Seven others have been
granted the right to cultivate, (land title), while the others
are still in various stages of processing.

Hendry said 44 companies were currently developing 291,000
hectares of plantations. (pwn)