Soeharto inaugurates cooperative diary farm

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto inaugurated yesterday a cooperative dairy farm in Bogor, some 50 kilometers south of here.

He said the dairy farm complex would make it easier to monitor the quality of local farmers' dairy products because the farmers had been scattered over 21 sub-districts. All their cows are now at the complex.

"We hope the construction of this dairy complex will improve the efficiency of dairy production and also the incomes of the cooperative's members," Soeharto said.

He stressed that the government had not been neglectful in developing agriculture in the face of industrialization.

"Developing the agricultural sector is the key to improving the people's welfare. Therefore, we must continue to develop agriculture besides industry," the President said.

A cooperative was the most appropriate institution to help farmers improve their welfare because production would be done by all members for the interests of all members under the ownership of all members.

But Soeharto acknowledged that it was not easy to develop cooperatives. It was evident that cooperatives did not have an important role in society, compared to private or state enterprises.

Cooperatives had not been prepared to compete with state enterprises and private entities because they lacked capital, technology and managerial skills, he said.

The government would continue to develop cooperatives so that they would grow to become independent economic institutions and increase their roles in the national economy.

"Strengthening cooperatives is our constitutional duty as we believe that through cooperatives we can achieve people's welfare and social justice for all Indonesians," the President said. (rid)