Deputy Minister of Transmigration: Transmigration Areas Support Food Security

Sumalata, Gorontalo (ANTARA) - Deputy Minister of Transmigration (Wamentrans) Viva Yoga Mauladi stated that transmigration areas support food security.

“Data from various sources show that transmigration areas are food granaries and centres for rice production,” said Viva Yoga in Sumalata, North Gorontalo Regency, Gorontalo, on Thursday.

According to him, the Ministry of Transmigration is collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture to carry out agricultural extensification and intensification, including assistance with agricultural tools and machinery (alsintan).

“We assess the needs of transmigrant communities who farm, then collaborate with the Ministry of Agriculture on budget allocation, facilities, infrastructure, and requirements in transmigration areas, and this is now underway,” he said.

For information, the Minister of Transmigration (Mentrans) in the Red and White Cabinet, Muhammad Iftitah Sulaiman Suryanagara, stated that transmigrants are no longer marginalised groups but patriots for the nation in terms of food security.

He said this is not without reason; according to him, transmigrants are a vital pillar in Indonesia’s food security and sovereignty.

The Ministry of Transmigration has been established independently with four presidential mandates. First, to strengthen and maintain the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia through population relocation from densely populated to sparsely populated areas.

They occupy the land to safeguard soil and water from external interventions, allowing differences in ethnicity, customs, and culture to develop into unity through assimilation and cultural acculturation processes.

Second, to eradicate poverty, as population relocation allows communities to desire to change their fate.

Now, with the presence of transmigration, it provides land to transmigrant citizens as part of agrarian reform, stating that the state is present to change the fate of all people in the new areas, areas full of hope.

Third, most transmigration areas are rice production centres. The President of the Republic of Indonesia wants transmigration areas to contribute to achieving food self-sufficiency.

Fourth, the transmigration programme aims to create new economic growth centres.