Former Dipasena farmers in Lampung reap windfall

Former Dipasena farmers in Lampung reap windfall

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

Parting company last year with PT Dipasena Citra Darmaja (PT
Dipasena), a giant shrimp producing company belonging to troubled
businessman Sjamsul Nursalim, thousands of farmers in Tulang
Bawang Regency, Lampung, have enjoyed been reaping rich rewards
from their private shrimp farms despite declining demand for
shrimps on the international market.

The farmers said they had benefited from parting company with
Dipasena as they had produced thousands of tons of shrimps over
the past six consecutive harvests, something that had improved
their lives considerably.

Hadi Setiawan, a shrimp farmer, told The Jakarta Post here
over the weekend that he had earned a total of Rp 65 million from
four consecutive harvests over the last 16 months, and his
earnings would have been even higher had not the demand for
Indonesian shrimps been declining in the United States and Japan.

He said the demand for Indonesian shrimps had drastically
dropped following the Sept. 11 tragedy in the U.S., causing a
drop in shrimp prices to Rp 55,000 per kilogram from the previous
Rp 78,000 per kg.

Ramlan Kahon, a resident of the Dipasena housing compound in
Tulang Bawang, said he had earned Rp 32.7 million from his last
harvest from a two-hectare shrimp pond in the area. He claimed he
had invested a total of around Rp 4 million in his shrimp farm.

More than 7,520 farmers have parted company with Dipasena
following a dispute between the company's management and its
worker/farmers that erupted in October, 1999.

The conflict was triggered by the management's refusal to
raise the workers' salaries and provide more allowances.

The dispute reached its peak when the farmers, who had several
times protested their poor working conditions to the provincial
administration and legislative council, were involved in a
violent clash with security personnel hired to guard Sjamsul on a
visit to the industrial shrimp farm on March 1, 2000.

A farmer and two members of the police's Mobile Brigade were
killed in the incident, during which the enraged farmers damaged
the company's office building and other facilities on the estate.

Dipasena, a unit of the Gajah Tunggal Group, has accused
certain parties of provoking the farmers to launch a campaign
against management in their attempt to acquire the estate.

Sjamsul, now in Singapore allegedly for medical treatment, is
wanted by the Attorney General's Office on corruption charges.
Gajah Tunggal is now under the supervision of the Indonesian
Banking Restructuring Agency (IBRA).

More than 9,000 of the shrimp farmers have set up a union,
called the Windu Shrimp Farmers Union (P3UW), to provide legal
protection for their interests.

The farmers are well aware of the importance of the union,
saying that with the union they have been able to improve their
lot much more than they would have been able to do working for
Dipasena.

They said that under Dipasena, their monthly income was
between Rp 1 million and Rp 2.5 million but following the break
with the company, they could earn between Rp 5 million and Rp 7
million per month.

According to P3UW data, the farmers produce around ten tons of
shrimps per day, which are supplied to buyers from Bandalampung,
Medan in North Sumatra, and Java. Their shrimps are exported to
Japan and United States through Singapore.

Besides their shrimp farms, many farmers have also developed
small-scale businesses to supply daily necessities to the three
shrimp farming communities in the regency.

Sri Minah, a supplier of basic needs to the farmers, said she
could earn a profit of between Rp 2 million and Rp 3 million per
month from her business.

"The farmers are supplied with basic commodities such as rice,
palm oil, salt, sugar and coffee although the prices are higher
than in the city as the villages are very isolated," she said.