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Central Sulawesi boasts all the natural resources — agriculture, fishery and minerals — that it takes to become a rich province. The potential remains mostly untapped due to now unfounded investor concerns about stability and security. However, far-sighted businesspeople are already reaping rich rewards from their endeavors in the province. The Jakarta Post’s correspondent in the province, Ruslan Sangadji, interviewed Central Sulawesi Governor Longki Djangola about the potential and prospects for investment. The following is an excerpt from the interview:
Question: Please elaborate on the province’s potential for investors.
Answer: Central Sulawesi, which covers 68,033 square kilometers of land and 193,923.75 square kilometers of sea area, offers more sectors than other provinces in Sulawesi, such as plantations, tourism, fishing, forestry, minerals as well as oil and gas.
In the agriculture sector, for example, we already produce 726,714 tons of agricultural products per annum, including 188,650 tons of coconut, 623,293 tons of palm oil, 4,887 tons of coffee, 7,216 tons of rubber, 92 tons of vanilla and 227 tons of nutmeg. In the forestry sector, we produce various kinds of woods, including ebony, and also rattan.
In the mining sector, we have reserves of various minerals, including 8 million metric tons of nickel in an area spanning around 322,2000 hectares, 100 million tons of galena and 16 million tons of gold. We also have coal reserves in various parts of the province.
In the gas sector, we have the Senoro gas field at Toili sub-district, Banggai, with total reserves of 1.6 trillion cubic feet of gas, currently operated by JOB Pertamina and Medco Tomori Sulawesi.
We also have oil and gas reserves in the Tiaka field that covers two regencies, in Bungku Utara subdistrict in Morowali regency and at West Toili subdistrict in Banggai regency. The oil and gas field could produce 16.5 million to 23 million barrels per annum.
How is it possible to turn this potential into realized output to improve people’s welfare?
This is an interesting question. We are rich, but [our people] are still not enjoying it. On our side, we could improve the investment climate in terms of faster licensing in Central Sulawesi. However, much of the homework lies with the central government, in terms of building infrastructure.
We need also to develop both the upstream and downstream industries in Central Sulawesi, in order to increase the value added of products produced in the province. To improve the attractiveness of Central Sulawesi and also to strengthen its economic structure, we need to prioritize the development of the Special Economic Zone in Palu.
You mentioned the role of the central government. Could you elaborate on this?
I hope and expect that the central government will pay more attention to the development of the eastern part of Indonesia, especially Central Sulawesi because of the scars left by conflicts in the past. The central government needs to give special treatment in terms of budget allocations for this province because of the various resulting constraints.
Central Sulawesi is at the forefront of the unitary states of Indonesia because the province is competing with not only other regions in Indonesia but also other areas of neighboring countries, which often benefit more from cross border trade than us.
Therefore, providing more funding to us would help us strengthen our capacity vis-à-vis neighboring countries.
Expediting the development of the least developed areas in the Central Sulawesi could also improve the openness of the economy. Such speeding up of development could be in the form of improving seaports, airports as well as road networks. We once had air links between Palu-Gorontalo-Manado (North Sulawesi), and I think we need to revive this air link. This would increase accessibility and connectivity within the province, as well as between the province and neighboring provinces and countries.
Besides expecting more funding from the central government, do you have any ideas on the other benefits from the existing scheme?
We will take the opportunities arising from the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of the Indonesian Economic Development (MP3EI), where Central Sulawesi falls into Corridor IV. In our area, we have a couple of projects under MP3EI, including the development of a 35.7-kilometer-toll road linking Palu and Parigi Pass and the establishment of the Special Economic Zone in Palu.
The central government needs to quickly initiate the running of the projects and clarify the funding scheme for MP3EI projects to ensure that more investors will become involved.
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Finally the govt of Central Sulawesi thinks that the ppl should be RICH...n not poor...cos we have too much resoucres....GOLD, COPPER, SILVER...GALS....
oH, lah, lah.....
Sister Miwah