Heaptalk, Jakarta — The East Kutai Regency Government seeks to improve the non-mining sectors to contribute more to the economy, including plantations. The reason is that the mining sector cannot always be relied on, which has been the biggest contributor to the economy of East Kutai.
According to Regent Ardiansyah Sulaiman, currently, the plantation sector in East Kutai is increasingly developing as evidenced by the large number of commodities produced by areas within the regency.
“It can be said that on Friday (11/03), this is the second revival of the plantation sector in East Kutai. Previously, plantations were revived in 2001. At that time, Regent Awang Faroek asked all parties to improve the agricultural sector, especially plantations,” said Ardiansyah in a technical coordination meeting in Samarinda. The meeting discussed several things, namely data collection on plantation commodities for the Plantation Business Registration Certificates for Cultivation (STD-B), and application-based farmer groups.
The revival resulted in five hectares of oil palm plantations and a number of investments, both domestic and foreign. “That is what we are currently doing in the plantation sector to continue to grow and become a supporting sector for the East Kutai economy. I’m sure it can be done as the plantation areas have been reinforced with STD-B,” he added.
Meanwhile, Secretary of the East Kutai Plantation Department Abdul Gani Sukkara said that his party would select planters to form farmer groups that actually manage the plantations. “After obtaining their data, we will carry out coaching as an effort to help overcome their issues,” concluded Abdul. (Translated by Sinta)
