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.