The government’s plantation program in East Kalimantan is still continuing. One of the ongoing programs is the development of oil palm plantations. This program is actually officially ended after five years of running, but they plan to continue it.
This was conveyed by YKAN’s Senior Terrestrial Manager, Niel Makinuddin. He said after that the activities would continue in a better direction in the future.
“What we have been working on together is an important asset for the success of achieving green development [especially palm oil] in East Kalimantan,” he said, quoted in a written statement, Wednesday (29/6/2022).
He gave an example of the presence of plantation WebGIS as part of managing data and information systems, providing accurate data for policymakers. According to him, spatial technology helps monitor plantation areas, as well as prevent overlapping permits.
Furthermore, he said the presence of the SIGAP approach in the oil palm plantation sector has helped strengthen capacity in the plantation sector to improve governance and land use.
Meanwhile, the Daily Chair of the Regional Council for Climate Change, Professor Daddy Ruhiyat, stated that sustainable plantations are East Kalimantan’s efforts to reduce emissions from the land-based sector (plantations and forestry).
Daddy continued that East Kalimantan already has Regional Regulation Number 7 concerning Sustainable Plantation Development which is also produced from the Low Emission Oil Palm Plantation Program since 2018.
Meanwhile, he said that although the sustainable plantation development program had ended, substantially the plantation sector in East Kalimantan was ready to move towards sustainable plantations.
Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency, it is recorded that the land allotment for plantations in Bumi Etam will reach 3.27 million hectares in 2021. Of this total area, around 2.75 million hectares already have a Plantation Business Permit (IUP), of which around 1.28 million hectares are active oil palm plantations.
The government’s plan to continue this program is because the contribution of the plantation sector to Gross Regional Domestic Product or GRDP and East Kalimantan’s original income shows a positive trend.
“The plantation sector will become the mainstay of East Kalimantan to slowly shift dependence on extractive resources,” said Head of the East Kalimantan Provincial Plantation Service, Ujang Rachmad at the Five-Year Appreciation event for the Sustainable Plantation Program in East Kalimantan, Tuesday (28/6/2022). at the Novotel Balikpapan Hotel.
Central Bureau of Statistics 2021 data shows that the contribution of the plantation sector to East Kalimantan’s GRDP is 4.97 percent (Rp 16.95 trillion) based on constant prices. However, based on current prices, the GRDP value of the plantation sub-sector reached Rp 34.52 trillion.
In other words, an increase of IDR 4.5 trillion or 15.14% from 2020.
