NTT salt industry needs shake-up
NTT salt industry needs shake-up
Antara/Jakarta
East Nusa Tenggara has the potential to be a major salt producer
for the country but the industry there is suffering from lack of
development, an expert says.
The dry province has 5,700 kilometers of coastline much of
which would be perfect for the salt evaporation industry, Beach
and Sea Development Foundation chairman Yans Koliham said.
About 18,000 hectares of land could be developed into fish
farms or salt evaporation ponds. "Sadly, only around 10 percent
of this land has been developed," Yans said.
The area was undeveloped because people in the area lacked
resources, education and funding, Yans said.
Residents in the Babau and Bipolo subdistricts in Kupang, had
only exploited 175 of around 750 hectares that could be
developed, Yans said.
Ateng Supriyatna, the deputy director general for processing
and marketing with the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and
Fisheries, agrees about the area's potential.
The demand for salt across the nation had been increasing year
on year, Ateng said. While in 1999 national demand for salt was
2.04 million tons it had risen steadily in subsequent years to
2.65 million tons last year, he said
In order to meet demand, the government imported salt from
Australia and India last year with imports in 2003 reaching 1.42
million tons and domestic production at 1.14 million tons.
Last year, imports rose 1.8 million tons while domestic output
also increased to 1.38 million tons.
East Nusa Tenggara has also imported salt to meet local
demand. Provincial Trade and Industry Office industry chief Toga
Butar-Butar said the province last year imported 3,858 tons of
salt from Surabaya to meet demand of 12,000 tons last year. The
province, which has four million people, produced only 3,858 tons
of salt last year.
A banking marketing manager said people in the province had
not yet caught on to the benefits of salt evaporation farming in
the province, which was reflected in the low number of seed loans
disbursed to new businesses.
Bank NTT marketing director Anton Bata said salt farmers also
lacked modern management skills.
"They are still not professional. Once they get the money, the
money is not channeled into business expansion but used for
vacations or entertaining their families," Anton said.
With its vast natural resources and underemployed population,
the province was a perfect place to develop the industry, Anton
said.