One Boat with the Government, This is the Promise of Coordinating Minister Luhut to Palm Oil Farmers

"From the 22 representatives from the 22 APKASINDO Provinces. Due to the Protocol rules from Mr. Luhut's Staff, only 10 people were able to participate in the meeting. Everyone had to go through the antigen process to make sure we were all healthy. So our friends from the 12 other Provinces were forced to wait at the hotel where we were staying," said Gulat.

Gulat said that Mr. Luhut appreciated the semangat of the palm oil farmers for coming to Jakarta. In addition, he also conveyed his concerns about the current TBS price conditions. Regarding the drop in TBS prices, Mr. Luhut promised to conduct an evaluation as soon as possible and was looking in detail at the relationship between the DMO (domestic market obligation), DPO (domestic price obligation) and FO (flush out) against the TBS price for farmers.

"Specifically for the PE, as per the simulation that was previously submitted by APKASINDO, it has become input for me, and we will announce the results of the evaluation soon. The President has already ordered me to fix everything immediately and to prioritize the interests of palm oil farmers as the main pillar," said Luhut as told by Gulat.

Regarding the exports that have not gone smoothly, Coordinating Minister Luhut explained that the main obstacle currently is the tanker ship. At the moment, tanker ships are starting to arrive and are expected to be finished by mid-July.

"Everything will be fixed, for too long the governance of the palm oil industry from upstream to downstream has been allowed to remain like this. Everything must be tidied up one by one. So later, everything will be digitally monitored by the Indonesian palm oil industry, so that everything is transparent," Luhut explained during the meeting.

During the meeting, Gulat said that APKASINDO also noted that the cooking oil issues in Java and Bali had been resolved under the coordination of Coordinating Minister Luhut. Based on that, the farmers came and had a dialogue so that the palm oil farmer issues could also be resolved.

Responding to Gulat Manurung's statement, Luhut replied that the world vegetable oil price situation had indeed changed at the current time, especially due to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war. So we must be "smart" because the situation is indeed very fluctuating and what is certain is that Mr. Luhut said that as the world's largest CPO producer, we should not be ordered about by other countries

"We are also evaluating the current implementation of B30, if B50 has been tested for its use. Perhaps we will move to B35 or B40 soon, and I think this is one of our strategies for increasing the absorption of domestic CPO. So, we will maintain and balance the need for CPO for energy and food," said Luhut as told by Gulat.

Regarding the CPO tender process at KPBN, Gulat conveyed a statement by the Coordinating Minister Luhut who was evaluating the KPBN tender. "Anyone playing around there, I will wipe out and clean out," he said firmly.

The same applies to the TBS weight cuts at the palm oil mills. Gulat recounted that Coordinating Minister Luhut was very shocked at the cuts of up to 25%. "This is outrageous. If there are violations, Law Enforcement must immediately step down, don't wait. This is tantamount to robbery. What is their basis for doing that? Luhut asked as told by Gulat.

That is why Coordinating Minister Luhut supports palm oil farmers having palm oil mills. "So that they don't just do whatever they like to you," said Luhut with a raised intonation.

The same goes for Cooking Oil Mills, don't just let companies have them, palm oil cooperatives, especially those that have participated in the PSR (People's Palm Oil Replanting) program, must immediately move towards downstream, in short, I fully support this and I will speak to BPDP-KS so that your proposal becomes a top priority, including fertilizer subsidies from palm oil funds. That's your money, that money should go more to you independent farmers, because that's the essence of BPDP-KS.

"Yes, but don't let the factory stand up, then you guys fight each other. So you have to learn more about business models, factory management, study accounting, and other technical aspects," Luhut suggested during the meeting.

Regarding the price of fertilizer, especially BUMN fertilizer, Gulat said that Coordinating Minister Luhut asked for an immediate audit of its production. "Anyway, keep reporting to me anything that you think should be reported in this way, I will audit it immediately. I don't care, you farmers must be protected, this kind of thing must not happen again in the future," Luhut said at that time.

At the end of the meeting, Coordinating Minister Luhut emphasized that palm oil farmers must be in the same boat as the Government, the Government must be on your side, Palm oil farmers.

"So believe that the President is paying close attention to palm oil farmers and that all of this is being sorted out wherever it is not yet finished, it will take time and as soon as possible," he said firmly.

After the meeting with Mr. Luhut, we at APKASINDO immediately held a meeting. We discussed one by one the discussion points from the meetings at KSP, the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture, BPDPKS to the meeting at the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Investment. And this we will report to the APKASINDO Board of Trustees, Advisory Board, and Expert Board.

Source: https://sawitindonesia.com/satu-perahu-dengan-pemerintah-ini-janji-menko-luhut-kepada-petani-sawit/