TEMPO.CO, Jakarta -

Hello readers,

Signs of a split between Jokowi and Prabowo Subianto are starting to show. In the food estate project in Merauke, South Papua, the current president and the president-elect are competing to make it happen. Jokowi rejected the food estate in Papua, but when Prabowo tried to realize it, Jokowi went on with his own program.

Jokowi did not want to go to Papua because the land there was the site of an unfinished food estate project from the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono era. If Jokowi continued the project at the same location, he feared the credit would go to SBY. So, he moved it to Kalimantan and North Sumatra.

However, as Tempo’s investigation revealed, the project failed to become a cassava plantation. Instead, deforestation in Gunung Mas caused flooding that submerged surrounding villages.

Rather than reconsidering and evaluating the project, the government opened rice fields in Merauke with a target of 3 million hectares. At that time, Jokowi did not have a businessman he could rely on to realize his vision. That was when Prabowo overtook him by partnering with Haji Isam, a Bugis entrepreneur with numerous businesses and a vast network.

To work on this project, Haji Isam brought in 2,000 excavators from China. Haji Isam is none other than the cousin of Amran Sulaiman, the Minister of Agriculture reappointed after the previous minister, Syahrul Yasin Limpo, was imprisoned.

Amran was the Minister of Agriculture in Jokowi’s first term. At that time, he partnered with Haji Isam to turn land in Bombana into a sugarcane plantation. Under the guise of sugar self-sufficiency, the government granted sugar import quotas until self-sufficiency was achieved. However, as revealed in Tempo’s investigation, the Bombana sugarcane plantation suffered the same fate as the Gunung Mas sugarcane plantation.

As a result, the food estate project in Papua is likely to meet the same fate as previous food barn projects before and during the Jokowi administration. The desire for self-sufficiency to prevent a food crisis ends up as project allocations for cronies and businessmen close to those in power.

Moreover, the food estate project, like the one in Gunung Mas, lacks proper environmental documentation. This project only used a preliminary environmental assessment (KLHS) and is suspected of not having a full environmental impact analysis— possibly because the project is a continuation of a similar program from the SBY era.

We explore the political, economic, and environmental aspects of the Merauke food estate in this issue. Why are Jokowi and Prabowo, who are in the same coalition, still competing over this megaproject? Happy reading.

Bagja Hidayat

Deputy Chief Editor

Competing Food Estates in Merauke

Two food estate projects are simultaneously being launched, targeting 2.29 million hectares of forest and land in Merauke. There are intrigues involving Prabowo and Jokowi.This report is part of a collaborative coverage and research initiative by Tempo, the Pusaka Bentala Rakyat Foundation, and Trend Asia.

The Land of Anim Ha Endangered by Aspirations of Self-Sufficiency

Preparing 2.9 million hectares of land under the food estate program in Merauke, South Papua, the government aims to achieve rice and sugar self-sufficiency within three to four years. Mirroring the previous failed food estate initiative.

National

Power-Sharing in Prabowo’s Cabinet

President-elect Prabowo’s cabinet is predicted to be filled by more than 40 ministries in an effort to accommodate the interest of the parties supporting him.

Economy

Behind the Coup in Kadin

Anindya Bakrie ousts Arsjad Rasjid from the position of General Chair of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin). The Palace’s support shifted.

Law

Suspects in the Bank BJB Advertisement Budget Corruption

The KPK named five suspects in the Bank BJB advertising budget corruption, but it has yet to implicate high-ranking officials in the West Java Provincial Administration.

Interview

Arsjad Rasjid: Kadin Was Like a Political Party

Anindya Bakrie ousted Arsjad Rasjid as the Chair of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin). The organization is becoming like a political party and enjoys large funds coming in from overseas.

Read at Tempo Magazine:

Competing Food Estates in Merauke

The Land of Anim Ha Endangered by Aspirations of Self-Sufficiency

Power-Sharing in Prabowo’s Cabinet

Behind the Coup in Kadin

Suspects in the Bank BJB Advertisement Budget Corruption

Arsjad Rasjid: Kadin Was Like a Political Party