President inaugurates $26m fertilizer plant

SURABAYA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid formally inaugurated on Friday a new US$26-million factory owned by state fertilizer company PT Petrokimia Gresik.

The factory, which has the capacity to produce 300,000 tons of nitrogen potassium fertilizer, or NPK, was developed in cooperation with state-owned plantation companies PT Perkebunan Nusantara II, III, IV and V, and Bank BNI.

Petrokimia Gresik president Rauf Purnama said the factory would supply the needs of the four state-owned plantation companies, as well as producing fertilizer to be sold to farmers.

"We expect the operation of the factory will help support the government's fertilizer self-sufficiency program," he said.

Rauf said the use of the company's NPK fertilizer had been proven in a recent study to increase rice production by between two and three tons of unhusked rice per hectare.

He said the company planned to construct a second NPK fertilizer plant with an annual capacity of around 700,000 tons next year in order to help the country's farmers boost rice production.

It is important to increase rice production in order to reduce the country's dependence on rice imports, he said. He predicted Indonesia would need to import seven million tons of rice in 2010.

In addition to Petrokimia's NPK factory, during his visit to Surabaya the President also inaugurated six new factories owned by Petrokimia and PT Semen Gresik -- PT Petro Oxo Nusantara, PT Samator Intiperoxida, PT Eterindo Nusa Graha, PT Gresik Gases Indonesia, PT Gresik Power Indonesia and PT Smelting.

The President also inaugurated three new business properties of the Maspion Group -- PT Maspion Industrial Estate, PT Siam Maspion Terminal and PT Dovechem Maspion Terminal.

During the inauguration ceremony for the NPK factory, President Wahid called on industrialists to ensure they operated and managed their factories in an environmentally friendly fashion.

"I personally believe we can't blame the catastrophes that took place in our environment on industrialization. Let those industrial projects run, but we have to use suitable technology to avoid further destruction of the surrounding environment," he said.

Wahid said he used to read reports on environmental destruction caused by the careless industrial activities of many companies, including Petrokimia and Semen Gresik.

Industrialists should allocate funds to help protect the environment, he said, adding that he was recently informed the water in Gresik, East Java, contained mercury.

"Please, spare some funds to help protect the environment from even greater pollution problems in the future," he said. (nur/cst)