JAKARTA - PT Perusahaan Gas Negara Tbk. (PGN) as a Subholding of Pertamina Gas through the Panaran Batam Station Offtake carried out the PELITA Tembesi CSR Program (Empowerment of Tangguh and Asri Tembesi Environment) in Tembesi Village, Sagulung District, Batam, Riau Islands as a manifestation of the company's commitment in encouraging community empowerment in the operational area.
This program is designed to respond to environmental and social challenges in an integrated manner through capacity building for communities, sustainable environmental management, and the development of economic activities based on local potential.
Through the PELITA Tembesi Program, PGN encourages active community participation in various community-based initiatives, including waste management through the Shining Pearl Waste Bank, the development of environmentally friendly agriculture through the Agro Hijau Women's Farmers Group (KWT), the improvement of health and disaster preparedness through health and disaster mitigation classes, and the strengthening of community economic institutions through fishermen's cooperatives and creative business groups such as Godhong Ku UMKM with eco-print products.
"This Pelita program aims not only to improve the quality of the environment and the welfare of the community, but also to strengthen the independence and social resilience of the people sustainably," said Fajriyah Usman, PGN Corporate Secretary, in a statement, Thursday, December 18.
Furthermore, through this program, PGN identifies problems in people's agricultural practices, namely soil conditions that have low pH (acidic). This condition causes the soil's ability to absorb nutrients to be low, so it has a direct impact on productivity and crop yields.
Responding to this challenge, PGN sees the potential for the generation of a significant amount of gonggong shell waste in the Tembesi Village area to be used as an alternative solution. Waste that was not previously optimally managed was then processed into high calcium powder that serves as a soil pH neutralizer. Through the formation of the Lance Perkasa Processing and Marketing Group (Poklahsar), PGN involves low-income housewives as the main implementers of the program.
"This innovation not only improves the quality of agricultural land, but also encourages environmentally friendly agricultural practices and strengthens the implementation of a circular economy based on local potential," added Fajriyah.
The innovation is named SI GOPAL (Sisa Gonggong jadi Penetral Lahan) and has an environmental impact in the form of a reduction in the amount of gonggong shell waste of 0.288 tons/year in the first year of the program. The economic impact that is felt is the increase in the income of group members who are fishermen's families with the addition of Rp. 25,000 per 5 kg of powder sold. In the Farmer Group, there is a 4 percent increase in production costs. In addition, SI GOPAL also has a social impact with the emergence of a new group, namely Poklahsar Lance Perkasa which increases women's participation in social and economic activities.
Thus, SI GOPAL not only answers local issues, but also makes a real contribution to the group and proves that collaboration between communities and companies is able to bring about transformative social and environmental innovations.
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