Accused Of Failing, TKN Pamerkan Progres Food Estate Project In Gunung Mas

Commander Of Bravo TKN Prabowo-Gibran, Budisatrio Djiwandono (left)/PHOTO: Nailin In Saroh-VOI

JAKARTA - The Paslon National Campaign Team (TKN) number 2, Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka, exhibited the development of a food estate project or food barn that was accused of failing by some parties, especially the opposing camp.

TKN said, as many as 8 hectares of corn and 5 hectares of cassava in Gunung Mas Regency, Central Kalimantan, were ready to harvest.

The commander of the Prabowo-Gibran TKN Communication Team, Budisatrio Djiwandono initially explained the importance of a national food estate initiated by President Joko Widodo by appointing the Ministry of Agriculture as the leading sector. Namely for the future of Indonesia's food sovereignty facing global threats.

Budi revealed that there are three provinces that are destinations for the food estate program. Among them, North Sumatra, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and Central Kalimantan.

The ministries that play a role in the food estate project are the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Environment and Surprise (LHK), the Ministry of PUPR, and the Ministry of Defense led by Presidential Candidate number 2, Prabowo Subianto.

Budi said that until now only the Ministry of PUPR, Ministry of Environment and Forestry and the Ministry of Agriculture has received a budget from the State Budget. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense, said Budi, did not spend a single rupiah from the APBN for the national food barn program.

"Responding to several allegations that the national food barn program or food barn is a failed project, we want to provide information that a project to realize this food barn is not an instant process, not one day, two days, one week, one month, it is planned, implemented. Continue to produce results directly? No, it does require a process," said Budisatrio during a press conference at the Media Center TKN Prabowo-Gibran, Jakarta, Monday, January 22.

"But the evaluation and supervision that has been carried out by various parties, including the working visits of Commission IV of the DPR RI to North Sumatra, for example, the Ministry of Agriculture sees significant progress. There must be," he continued.

The DPR member from the Gerindra faction for the East Kalimantan electoral district explained that the food estate program in Gunung Mas Regency, Central Kalimantan, which has been the debate for Paslon's rival number 2, has even been running and is ready to harvest results.

"As of today, it has been planted and will harvest around 8 hectares of corn and also 5 hectares of cassava. The productivity of the land or the result is about 20 tons of cassava per hectare, this is quite large, quite good and corn is around 6 tons per hectare for the dry type with the assumption that 15 percent of the water levels are listed," said Budisatrio.

"Some time ago there was a narrative that this was a failed land, now corn is planted to cover the failure of the cassava, no, this process is indeed time consuming. Because it is also necessary to evaluate the geological soil in the mountain Mas," he continued.

Then regarding the accusations about the land in Gunung Mas destroying the environment, Budisatrio emphasized that the accusation was not true. The deputy chairman of the Gerindra Party emphasized that based on real conditions and the existing land has been evaluated, Gunung Mas is a former area of production forest.

"The area of this production forest that we found is land that I once again say is unproductive, the majority composition is dry shrubs and trees with small vegetation. What I mean with small vegetation trees are trees with diameters below 50 cm where the economic value is not high," he said.

If it is called the Gunung Mas area there is a high value of biodiversity, continued Budi, it is also not true. Because Budi said, outside the area of the food barn area whose permits have been given by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, around 6,000 hectares are areas of the area which are also production forest areas.

"So I say again, the accusation that this food estate project is damaging the environment in our opinion is not true," he concluded.