President inaugurates $26m fertilizer plant
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)