June 29, 2015
Sugaronline | http://goo.gl/fYGLa4
Industry Minister Saleh Husin has asserted that there should be at least 10,000 hectares of land made available to make Lampung a center for national sugar refinement, according to Indonesia's Jakarta Post newspaper.
He said that the need for such a large amount of land could be tackled if the Lampung administration played a greater role in helping provide the land for industry.
"In the future, we will have to reduce imported raw sugar materials. To that end, we must have people in plantations of at least 10,000 hectares," the minister said on the sidelines of a visit to plantation firm PT Tunas Baru, a Bumi Waras group member, in Bandarlampung, on Saturday.
Saleh said that getting the 10,000 hectares of land for sugarcane plantation depended upon the Lampung administration's commitment to provide the land.
Discussing the Lampung Industrial Zone (KAIL) in Tanggamus regency, Saleh said that the area constituted one of Indonesia's maritime industries that had been included in the national maritime industry map. It was hoped, therefore, that the province's dockyard industry would grow faster and there would be more ships available for inter-island transportation.
The minister said that the Lampung administration should accelerate solutions to the main problem it was currently facing, namely, the lack of adequate infrastructure. He highlighted the poor roads leading to the industrial area. To emphasize the point, he noted that it took around two hours to get to KAIL from Lampung's central area even though it was only around 22 kilometers away.
"How can the industry continue to grow and expand with such poor road access? This must be overcome. There should be close communication between related agencies and the Public Works Ministry's Bina Marga directorate," said Saleh.