Govt urged to reforest huge Kalimantan peat land
Govt urged to reforest huge Kalimantan peat land
JAKARTA (JP): A team assigned to review the one-million
hectare peat land project in Central Kalimantan has suggested
that the government reforest the area on the grounds the
megaproject is off-target and threatens the environment.
The team's chairman, Gunawan Satari, said Friday that some of
the land allocated for the megaproject were not suitable to grow
food on. Gunawan said that only 50 percent of the area contained
peat.
"The peat land project has destroyed 1.4 million hectares of
forests, caused forest fires and polluted rivers in the locality.
Local people have lost their livelihoods from the rivers and
forests," Gunawan said at a news conference attended by Minister
of Agriculture Soleh Solahuddin.
Gunawan added that the project also threatened the natural
environment, including the habitat of orangutans and proboscis
monkeys.
He said Rp 2 trillion (US$137 million) had been spent
developing the megaproject, around Rp 527 billion of which came
from the reforestation fund.
Initial estimates said the megaproject would cost Rp 5
trillion (US$2.1 billion) to set up. PT Sumatera Timur Indonesia,
a subsidiary of the Sambu Group, was appointed by the government
to develop the area.
Gunawan said about 50,000 hectares of the land had been opened
and the government had resettled 13,500 volunteer transmigrants
on 27,000 hectares of the land in the 1996/1997 fiscal year.
The remaining 23,000 hectares should be used to resettle local
transmigrants, Gunawan said.
The project, launched in February 1996, involves converting
one million hectares of peat land in Central Kalimantan into
638,000 hectares of rice fields. The remaining 362,000 hectares
are to be used for horticulture, plantations, conservation areas,
housing and reservoirs.
The project is meant to compensate for the conversion of
agricultural areas on Java into housing complexes, industrial
estates and highways.
The project aims to guarantee the country's food security as
most of the population still consumes rice as their staple diet.
Indonesia first enjoyed rice self-sufficiency in 1984, but
returned to importing rice in late 1994 after bad weather
destroyed domestic harvests.
Minister of Agriculture Soleh Solahuddin said the decision to
convert one million hectares of peat moss in Central Kalimantan
into rice producing areas was taken haphazardly.
The results of the team's studies are to be discussed at a
meeting with related ministers and the chief of the National
Development Planning Board.
"The result of the meeting will then be reported to the
President at the next cabinet meeting," he said.
Soleh also said that the country could experience rice
shortages in the future, requiring more imports if steps were not
taken to boost domestic production.
He said that unhusked rice production was estimated to fall
6.25 percent to 46.3 million metric tons in 1998 against 1997
production of 49.2 million tons.
"If we do not take urgent steps, there will be difficulties in
getting rice and this could cause serious food shortages in the
future. It will also necessitate more imports," he said.
That is why the government has agreed to provide Rp 800
billion from the budget to support plans to boost production of
rice, soybeans and corn, Soleh said.
"We will use the money to finance a special task force which
will increase productivity and expand areas of rice, soybeans and
corn (cultivation). The task force is expected to boost unhusked
rice output by 2.1 million tons in 1998," he added.
Corn output would eventually increase by 691,000 tons and
soybeans by 264,000 tons.
The State Logistics Agency said it would import 3.1 million
tons of rice in 1998, against 350,000 tons in 1997. It imports
around 700,000 tons of soybeans annually.
Indonesia's rice output has fallen due to last year's
prolonged drought caused by the El Nio weather phenomenon and
also a decrease in the amount of land under rice cultivation.
(gis)