Realtors cannot use fertile land: Soeharto
Realtors cannot use fertile land: Soeharto
JAKARTA (JP): In an effort to maintain self-sufficiency in
food, President Soeharto said on Saturday that the government
will not allow industrial estate owners and realtors to build on
fertile land.
"Certainly they [the developers] need land, but now they will
no longer be allowed to use land located close to urban centers.
This is part of our effort to prevent them from using technically
irrigated land for industrial establishments," the President said
from his ranch in Tapos, Bogor, to a group of 136 United Nations
officials posted in Jakarta.
They represented among others World Bank, UN Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UN Children's Fund
(Unicef) Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and World
Health Organization (WHO).
Accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas,
Soeharto said these moves are very important if the country is to
maintain self-sufficiency in rice.
"Another way to maintain rice self-sufficiency would be the
diversification of food for the people. This way they will no
longer rely on rice as their staple food," the Antara news agency
quoted the President on the occasion of the 49th anniversary of
the United Nations.
Answering a question on what concrete steps Indonesia had
taken in the implementation of the plan for Technical Cooperation
between Developing Countries (TCDC), Soeharto said Indonesia has
offered an opportunity for foreign farmers to learn about
agriculture in this country.
Citing an example, the President said farmers from Gambia and
Tanzania are currently in Indonesia to study the process of land
cultivation. Indonesia's cooperation with fellow developing
countries has received warm support from the industrialized
countries and also some financial assistance due to the limited
financial resources of Indonesia and the other developing
countries.
"This constitutes a manifestation of South-South and South-
North cooperation," Soeharto pointed out. (bas)