Habibie's brilliant ideas

Habibie's brilliant ideas

From Jayakarta

The current condition of stockpiles of rice, flour, soybeans, sugar, etc., reminds me of the great and brilliant ideas of B.J. Habibie, now Indonesia's Vice President, voiced six years ago.

Habibie wanted to utilize the potential of the 670-km long Mamberamo river in Irian Jaya. His idea was to build hydroelectric plants for an industry to manufacture aluminum, the main component of the airplane industry. The giant project would also be used for rice field irrigation.

He got the idea after he and his group had made an intensive visit, lasting 15 days, to all provinces in the eastern part of Indonesia at the beginning of 1992.

He was fully convinced that if the project could be realized, Irian Jaya would become Indonesia's rice granary. We would be self-sufficient in rice and would also become important exporters of the commodity.

In my opinion, it is time now to implement his great idea, considering the huge benefits it would bring to the Indonesian people. It is far better than having projects which bring no direct benefit to the people.

MAS SOEBANDI

Jakarta