TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman responded to criticism voiced by presidential candidate Anies Baswedan who bashed Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto's food estate project as a failure during Sunday’s presidential debate. The mega-project managed by the Defense Ministry and those close to Prabowo in Central Kalimantan failed and left deforested forests.

“Agriculture is not to be debated but implemented,” Amran said when met at Waskita Rajawali Tower in East Jakarta, on Monday, January 8, 2024.

Amran did not deny that the cassava food barn project initiated by Prabowo, who is running for the presidency for the third time, has not yielded results. However, corn planted on the same land grew successfully.

“Well, we are planting corn on the land [for cassava] covering only 600 hectares. But the food estate we are looking after is 7.4 million hectares. That means it is only 0.08 percent,” he explained.

During the third presidential debate on Sunday, January 7, 2024, Anies highlighted ethical violations in the food estate program in Central Kalimantan. One of them was the involvement of Prabowo’s people in the project.

The food estate was carried out by clearing forests, causing environmental damage and flooding in residential areas. Citing from Tempo Magazine’s October 9, 2021 edition, the project was executed by PT Agro Industri Nasional (Agrinas), a company under the auspices of the Defense Resource Potential Development Foundation (YPPSDP), which also oversees PT Teknologi Military Indonesia (TMI). Both Agrinas, PT TMI, and YPPSDP are mostly staffed by cadres of the Gerindra Party, the party founded by Prabowo Subianto.

Although it is only a cassava plantation, the garden in the middle of the forest is guarded 24 hours a day by armed soldiers. People, including residents living near the forest and journalists, are not allowed to enter.

RIANI SANUSI PUTRI | MAJALAH TEMPO

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