Conversion of fertile land prohibited, Ginandjar says

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita said the government would no longer allow conversion of fertile land into industrial projects fearing they may threaten the country's rice self-sufficiency.

Speaking to reporters after meeting with President Soeharto yesterday, Ginandjar also described the chaotic land use policies at local levels which could lead to other problems, including rife land speculation and conflicts.

"The president has ordered that this policy on the prohibition of conversion of rice fields go into effect. Permits for land which is already under development for industrial projects will not be affected," Ginandjar said.

"But no new permits for industry projects will be issued for this type of land," he added.

Ginandjar cited the President as saying that new industrial projects on Java should be housed in industrial estates spread across the island which are under-utilized.

"It is not that we do not need factories and industrial projects but that fertile land to feed our people is by far much more important," he said. "In addition, by the year 2000 we will have 210 million people. They need to eat."

President Soeharto last month ordered his ministers to safeguard fertile agriculture land from being used for housing or industry to protect Indonesia's self-sufficiency in rice production.

Officials said last month that Indonesia's rice output would fall by four percent this year because of a severe dry spell that has devastated part of the main rice-growing belt of Java.

"We can always import rice, but remember that it's not as easy as people imagine," Ginandjar said, adding that some of the irrigations on the converted land were actually built with foreign loans which have yet to be paid back.

Ginandjar pointed out yesterday that the inter-institution coordinating board for spatial zoning, which includes the ministers of agrarian affairs, environment and public works, has discovered a number of other problems.

Among these problems is the overlapping use of forested land and protected forests with mining areas, as well as overlap of land use in the provincial administrations' city plans.

"This is a very serious matter, because rapid development effort also means more intense competition to obtain land," he said.

Ginandjar said many businessmen have been eying plots of fertile land in Sidoarjo, East Java, for their industrial projects while the surrounding areas like Tuban, with its dry soil, are more suitable for such purposes.

He spoke about the deplorable land speculation by businessmen, who try to appropriate land while the plots they have already bought have not been optimally used.

Before the coordinating board for spatial zoning was established, the provinces and regencies already had zoning laws which were not always in accordance with the laws and the national interests, he said.

He also warned against the concentration of industrial projects in the overly-crowded Java as it would hamper the government's intention to spread development efforts to the less- crowded regions such as eastern Indonesia's provinces.

"Besides, we'd find it difficult to stop urbanization," he said.

Ginandjar also reported to President Soeharto the progress in the government aid program for poor villages. "In general, the program is proceeding well," he said. "There are some cases of fund misappropriation, but mostly there are successful cases."

In certain regions, the misappropriated funds were replaced with funds from the budgets of local administrations, having no effect on the program, he said. (swe)