Jakarta, Jan 22 (Antara) - Since salt production has remained stagnant, Indonesia has been importing the commodity since the last two decades, though it was able to increase production during the 2012-2015 period.
Hence, the government is optimistic of boosting its salt production and encouraging the adoption of a salt-processing technology that is adaptive to climate change. Climatic conditions pose a problem to salt farming in the country.
Currently, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry (KKP) has been intensively working to increase the nation's salt production. Moreover, the government has set a target to realize self-sufficiency in salt production by 2020.
Moreover, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan had recently expressed his keenness to accelerate the realization of the target by 2019.
However, can the target be realized by 2019? This year, the government has once again decided to import 3.7 million tons of industrial salt. The annual demand of the salt industry is estimated at 2.3 million tons.
Indonesia still depends on imports to meet its need since domestic salt production is not yet adequate. Trade Ministry's Director for Import Affairs Veri Anggriono had stated last year that the demand for industrial salt by the CAP, or the chlor alkali plant, industry was estimated to reach 2.2 million tons.
Data from the state-owned salt company PT Garam revealed that the national demand for salt had reached 4.04 million tons per annum comprising 1.3 million tons of consumer salt and 2.74 million tons of industrial salt.
This year, the government has again decided to import 3.7 million tons of industrial salt.
"We have decided to import 3.7 million tons, but that will not be carried out all at once. We will check the quantity to be imported a month," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution remarked after a limited coordination meeting on industrial salt in Jakarta on Friday (Jan 19).
According to the minister, the 3.7 million tons have been adjusted in line with the annual demand for industrial salt. To expedite the import process, the Ministry of Trade no longer needs to seek recommendations from the KKP.
"The regulation remains with the KKP (which should issue the recommendation), but a recommendation is not needed every time industrial salt is imported. It will be at the Ministry of Trade, with a limit of 3.7 million tons," Nasution noted.
Law No 7 of 2016 stipulates that all recommendations for the import of consumer and industrial salt should be issued by the KKP. However, when the country fell short of salt supplies last year, Vice President Jusuf Kalla had led a meeting to discuss an import plan.
One of the outcomes of the meeting was that the Trade Ministry will no longer need a recommendation from the KKP before it can issue a license to industries to import industrial salt.
For this year, the government will import 3.7 million tons of salt to meet the demand of the industry and offer room to design a better business expansion plan.
"We have decided to import 3.7 million tons, but it will not be carried all at once. We will see how much will be needed per month," Minister Nasution noted after a closed-door meeting on industrial salt in Jakarta on Friday (Jan 19).
He said pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries, among others, require industrial salt to boost their production and exports.
The minister has made assurance that industrial salt imports will not affect the local salt production, as the domestically produced salt is only used for consumption and the fish salting industry.
"We want our industry to prepare a better plan, as it will be difficult to make a plan when they do not have salt. We did not produce this salt in the local industry; we only produced consumption salt," he explained.
In the meantime, the People's Coalition for Fishery Justice (Kiara) has questioned the government's decision to import industrial salt instead of empowering the domestic salt industry as optimally as possible.
"Since 1990, the Indonesian government's policy of dependence on imported salt had not changed. Until when will this nation continue to import?" Kiara Secretary General Susan Herawati had stated in Jakarta on Saturday.
According to Herawati, if the government had a strong political will, the country would have already become a producer of high-quality salt since long and would not have been dependent on salt from other countries.
Herawati opined that if the main problem faced in the production of industrial salt in Indonesia is the level of sodium chloride, which cannot reach above 97 percent, then the government should be able to overcome the issue by holding discussions with various parties.
"Indonesia has several scientists, research institutes, and universities that can help solve the salt quality problem," she explained.
However, Herawati stated that these three areas of potential have yet to be utilized optimally by the government, so it had always taken a short cut by importing salt. Most importantly, the government should make all-out efforts to realize its goal of achieving self-sufficiency in salt production next year.***3***(A014/INE/o001)EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/O. Tamindael) 22-01-2018 13:40:3 |
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