Soeharto opens C. Java irrigation and port projects
Soeharto opens C. Java irrigation and port projects
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto inaugurated several
irrigation projects and a fishing port in Central Java and
Yogyakarta yesterday.
An inaugural ceremony was held in Banyumas before the
president proceeded to Cilacap to look at the new port in the
southern fishery town.
The Serayu irrigation dam is designed to irrigate 20,000
hectares of agricultural land in Banyumas, Cilacap and Kebumen
regencies.
The dam should free 4,000 hectares from seasonal flooding, the
President said.
The Sermo reservoir is designed to improve the productivity of
150 hectares of paddy fields, and control floods in Yogyakarta.
Soeharto said the irrigation facilities are expected to
improve the welfare of local farmers, especially their buying
power, so more people buy domestic products.
"The projects are also expected to reduce the number of people
living below the poverty line," he said.
One of the government's efforts toward improving farm
families' welfare is introducing appropriate farming technology,
the President said.
Java, whose size is only one-fourteenth of Indonesia, remains
the country's largest rice producer, contributing about 60
percent of national rice product, he said.
Soeharto said Indonesia has maintained the self-sufficiency in
rice production it achieved in 1984.
"We should be proud of the achievement. Currently, 800 million
people are impoverished. In some countries, elderly people,
youths and children die from starvation," he said.
The fishery port in Cilacap is designed to help local anglers
access fishing facilities and sell their catch.
In a dialog with 50 anglers and farmers in Cilacap, the
President acknowledged that Indonesia does not yet have the
technology to optimally exploit exclusive economic zone waters.
"Of the potential 6.7 million tons of fish that could be
harvested in the zones each year, Indonesian anglers are able to
catch only half of it," Soeharto said.
The rest is harvested by foreign anglers with more advanced
technology and we cannot do anything about it, he said.
The technology is still too expensive for Indonesian fishermen
and bank credit for fishing is still difficult to obtain, he said
The president called on local fishermen to revitalize their
maritime spirits to farther and catch more, like their ancestors
who reached Madagascar in east Africa in their sailing boats.
The Rp 46 billion (US$20 million) fishery port has a housing
complex for fishermen worth Rp 23.5 million.
Soeharto was accompanied by Minister/State Secretary
Moerdiono, Minister of Public Works Radinal Moochtar and Central
Java governor Soewardi. (pan/har/wah)