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Lampung to build agribusiness center
The Lampung administration plans to build an agribusiness center in Way Pisang in South Lampung’s Ketapang district that is expected to reduce transportation costs and assist suppliers to transport their commodities
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he Lampung administration plans to build an agribusiness center in Way Pisang in South Lampung’s Ketapang district that is expected to reduce transportation costs and assist suppliers to transport their commodities.
The administration has started prepare for construction by clearing some 460 hectares of land, which is currently home to local residents’ corn fields.
Lampung Governor Sjachroedin ZP hoped that the agribusiness center, said to cost Rp 300 trillion (US$31.8 billion), would be the focal point of all economic activities, particularly in agriculture, in the future.
“Through the terminal, suppliers do not have to transport all the agricultural commodities derived from Aceh; Padang, West Sumatra; Palembang, South Sumatra; Bengkulu and other parts of Sumatra to Java, and vice versa. They can just sell their products at the Lampung agribusiness terminal,” said Sjachroedin ZP recently.
It is also hoped that the terminal would reduce staggering transportation costs.
Sjachroedin said that he would ensure that all produce that came into the terminal was environmentally friendly and was free from pesticides.
Arinal Djunaidi, the governor’s assistant for economic and development affairs, said that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) had carried out the feasibility study for the project, while the administration had done some research on a similar agribusiness center in Malang, East Java.
Arinal said that the project would be completed in 2013, adding that the Jakarta administration also took part in the project.
Meanwhile, the Horticulture, Food and Agriculture Agency’s secretary, Masri Yahya, said that the terminal was expected to be able to accommodate 1,032 tons of commodities per day.
“This figure does not include the products from other provinces in Sumatra. There will never be any imported products in the terminal. Instead, we will prioritize qualified local products and environmentally friendly products,” said Masri, adding that farmers in South Lampung and East Lampung had been encouraged to develop organic farming.
