Govt to expand nucleus estates to eastern provinces
Govt to expand nucleus estates to eastern provinces
JAKARTA (JP): The government will expand plantations managed under the nucleus estate and smallholder (NES) plan to eastern Indonesia, says Minister of Agriculture Sjarifudin Baharsjah.
"The NES plantations, which will be linked with transmigration programs, will cover a total area of around 500,000 hectares," Sjarifudin told reporters after meeting with President Soeharto at the Merdeka Palace here yesterday.
The minister also said that the expansion plan will include areas in Irian Jaya, Southeast and Central Sulawesi, Central Kalimantan and Maluku.
He did not mention the amount of investments required to finance the expansion plan or the names of the private firms which will be involved.
Sjarifudin stated that "the expansion will be carried out soon" and it will be financed by credits for forestry cooperatives.
The NES projects, which are linked to transmigration programs, were first introduced by the government in 1986 with the aim of attracting the private sector to invest in the plantation sector, while simultaneously helping resettle migrant farmers who come from densely populated islands.
Under the NES scheme, nucleus companies will provide production materials ranging from seedlings to fertilizer for the smallholders and farmers, who are in turn obliged to sell their harvests exclusively to the nucleus firms.
Earlier reports indicated that at present there are 42 plantations operating under the NES scheme. These projects, all of which are located outside Java, cultivate oil palms, hybrid coconut and cacao with total investments of US$1.7 billion.
Sjarifudin also said yesterday that President Soeharto has approved his ministry's plan to launch another form of the NES plan which will allow smallholders and cooperatives to have some control over the nucleus estates.
He cited that the new plan will be tried out in April in Irian Jaya by the state owned plantation firm PTP II in cooperation with a private investor. (hdj)