KDM Reveals Greatest Difficulty in Leading West Java

The Governor of West Java, Dedi Mulyadi, has revealed the greatest difficulty in leading the province. Dedi stated that the hardest task is not building roads or schools, but rather reforesting West Java.

“To be honest, building roads is easy, building schools is easy. But the heaviest task for me is reforesting mountains and forests,” said Dedi Mulyadi while speaking at the Ground Talk & Bebersih Leuweung Republika at the Citarum River Zero Point, Situ Cisanti, Mount Wayang, Bandung Regency, on Saturday (26/09/2026).

The former Regent of Purwakarta stated that reforesting mountains and forests is his primary target during his tenure in West Java. He launched this reforestation target because he is distressed by seeing many gardens and forests becoming barren and converted into business land.

“Leading West Java for these five years will be meaningless if I cannot reforest the West Java Province,” Dasting Mulyadi added.

To achieve this, the West Java Provincial Government will undertake massive planting efforts tailored to land conditions. For instance, barren tea plantations will be replanted with similar commodities, and forest areas will be restored according to their specific land conditions. Dedi has already instructed the Forestry Service and the Plantation Service to allocate specific budgets for reforestation and forestry.

“For next year’s budget allocation in forestry and plantations, it must be above IDR 150 billion. Therefore, the largest components will be seed procurement and wages for farmers and forest guards,” he noted.

Dedi stated that the reforestation of gardens and forests will involve local farmers, who will be responsible for planting, maintaining, and harvesting the results. Crucially, they will be provided with much more decent wages compared to their current status as daily-paid farm labourers.

“The plan has been submitted to the Provincial Government. Under the provincial government, those who plant tea—from planting until the tea can be harvested—will be paid monthly. The same applies to forestry policies; every open land area will be planted by tenant farmers. These workers will be paid between IDR 1.5 million to 2 million per month,” Dedi revealed.

In addition to reforesting gardens and forests, Dedi believes this policy will also impact farmer welfare, as they will be provided with the certainty of a monthly salary.