Soeharto denounces critics on Kalimantan peat project

Soeharto denounces critics on Kalimantan peat project

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto denied yesterday that the
government's project to convert one million hectares of peat moss
land in Central Kalimantan into rice producing areas was a
haphazard decision.

The project is meant to compensate for the conversion of
agricultural areas on Java into housing complexes, industrial
estates and highways, Soeharto said.

The project is aimed to guarantee food security and the
country's self-sufficiency in rice, he said. Indonesia first
reached rice self-sufficiency in 1984, but returned to importing
rice in late 1994 after bad weather destroyed domestic harvests.

"Frankly speaking, this is not a haphazard decision, but based
on very strong reason," Soeharto said in an off-the-cuff
meeting with farmers at the project site in Lamunti, Kapuas,
Central Kalimantan.

"This is not a matter of whether we had the guts (to do the
project) or not, but it's for the interest of our nation, not
only now, but for the future," he said.

The Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) has repeatedly
called on the government to reconsider the megaproject, saying it
is off-target and threatens the environment.

Walhi said recently that Kalimantan was not suitable for a
food development project. Opening the land would also threaten
the natural environment, including the habitat of orangutans and
proboscis monkeys.

President Soeharto was confident the project would benefit the
people, and vowed to prove the government was correct in its
decision.

Farmers, who have just received their land title directly from
the President, thanked him for providing them better living
conditions. "Now we have our own house and land, Pak," the
farmers told Soeharto.

The project, launched in February last year, involves
converting one million hectares of peat land in Central
Kalimantan into 638,000 hectares of rice fields. The remaining
362,000 hectares are to be used for horticulture, plantations,
conservation areas, housing and reservoirs.

Earlier reports said the megaproject would cost Rp 5 trillion
(US$2.1 billion). PT Sumatera Timur Indonesia, a subsidiary of
the Sambu Group, was appointed by the government to develop the
area.

Soeharto said the project would be financed by the country's
reforestation funds, but he did not elaborate.

The company has succeeded in developing a peat area project in
Riau, according to the President. "Their success in Riau can be
implemented in Kalimantan, too," he said.

"The peat moss land should really be a source of livelihood,
but we all have to struggle because we're challenged... by those
who don't believe in this project," he said.

Soeharto promised to prioritize the local people in the
development.

The government plans to resettle Dayak farmers in Kalimantan
and people from densely populated Java to the new agricultural
land.

The government has settled 3,000 volunteer transmigrants in
the newly opened peat moss land in fiscal 1996/1997, while
another 20,000 families are being resettled in 1997/1998, mostly
from Java. Each transmigrant family receives Rp 5 million
(US$2,174) from the government. (06)