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Government to construct six salt warehouses to boost production
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A farmer harvests salt in Surabaya, East Java. (JP/Wahyoe Boediwardhana)
T
he government plans to construct six salt warehouses this year to achieve its target of producing 3.2 million tons of salt, following meager production in 2016, an official has said.
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry director general for territorial sea management Brahmantya Satyamurti said the warehouses would be developed in the three Central Java towns of Rembang, Brebes and Demak, as well as in Sampang and Tuban, both in East Java, and in the East Nusa Tenggara provincial capital of Kupang.
“It [each warehouse] will cost between Rp 1.8 billion [US$ 135,257] and Rp 2 billion. The capacity will be 2,000 tons,” Brahmantya said on Wednesday as quoted by tribunnews.com.
(Read also: Indonesia achieves only fraction of targeted salt output)
Last year, the country produced only 137,600 tons of salt, a mere 4.6 percent of the 3-million-ton target, blaming heavy rainfall during the dry season for seriously hampering salt production.
Brahmantya said the construction of the warehouses was part of efforts to boost salt production in the country because the warehouses would help farmers produce more salt to fulfill demand all year round.
He said the government would also establish a task force to supervise salt imports, whose members would come from relevant government institutions including the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, Trade Ministry, Industry Ministry, and the Finance Ministry’s Directorate General of Customs and Excise.
He said salt imports would be decided in stages, depending on the production capacity. “A permit would be issued for each shipment. If importing 50,000 tons of salt is sufficient, for instance, we will not import more,” he added. (bbn)
