SBY aide blamed for failed rice project

Desy Nurhayati ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 09/09/2008 10:15 AM  |  Headlines

The government admitted Monday it sold Supertoy HL2 rice to farmers without having properly tested the new strain, and blamed the failing on a company in part owned by a presidential advisor.

The government asked project initiator PT Sarana Harapan Indopangan (SHI) to immediately resolve problems experienced by farmers as a result of the project.

Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono said the new rice variety had not been certified by the government, and that his office's Monitoring and Seeds Certification Agency (BPSB) had been tasked with monitoring its cultivation.

He said SHI, the company responsible for producing and distributing the Supertoy strain, should not have commercialized the new rice variety because it was still being tested.

The company, of which presidential advisor Heru Lelono is president commissioner, planted the grain on a 96.2-hectare rice field in Grabag village in Purworejo, Central Java. Anton said the plantation area far exceeded the maximum 10 hectares permitted for such an experiment.

"We were robbed in terms of the scope of the area and we have reprimanded the company," the minister told a news conference after a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office.

However, no firm action has been taken against Heru, who is a close confidante of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The Supertoy strain appeared to be a hoax after Grabag farmers failed to reap a second harvest of the new rice variety earlier this month.

The farmers vented their anger by setting fire to their rice field and threatened to sue SHI unless the company compensated them for damages.

The first harvest of the new variety was attended by Yudhoyono and several ministers, including Anton, last April in Grabag village, during which farmers reaped some seven tons of unhusked grain per hectare.

Anton said it was theoretically possible that the second harvest fail.

He said the agreement on the project between the Grabag farmers and the company lacked clarity, prompting the farmers to demand compensation for their failed plant.

According to the minister, President Yudhoyono asked his office to continue research on the Supertoy strain.

"And I have asked the company to conduct the research but it must be under BPSB's supervision. There is still a possibility that this project will be successful."

Anton said the president had no problem with the failure of the project because it was still on trial.

"(The President) could accept it. Besides, no one will be able to guarantee that the variety is really high yielding before we undergo an experiment," he said.

In the face of public pressure for Heru to be fired from his role as the President's special staff, presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng and State Secretary Hatta Radjasa refused to make comment.

"We should not bring this issue into politics. This is merely a problem that can be solved technically by SHI and related parties," Hatta said.

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