JAKARTA – Forest Law Expert Sadino urged the next government of Indonesia to revise all regulations that are considered hindering the process of down-streaming the palm oil industries in Indonesia. Sadino highlighted the complexity of palm oil geopolitics and the very important role of regulations to support the growth of the Indonesia’s top industry.
According to Sadino, despite Indonesia’s optimism on the future of biodiesel, the palm oil industry is facing tough competition at the global market. “We can be optimistic, but we should also consider the palm oil geopolitics at global market where there are many competitors. Due to those competitors abroad, we at home are also divided,” Sadino told participants of the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with the theme “Biodiesel for Nation” as reported by SAWITKITA, on Tuesday (23/7/2024).
According to him, Indonesia’s position as the world’s largest exporter of palm oil is not yet fully enjoyed by the general public. Appreciation is just limited among the palm oil community.
“Indonesia is not yet confident in facing the global competition, especially in palm oil competition. We need to be united. I believe we can do it,” he said.
Regarding the biodiesel program, Sadino said that many of its prevailing regulations since 2008 until now still stand in the way of developing the program. “One of the obstacles is the moratorium of oil palm plantation licenses as ruled by the presidential regulation (Perpres) No.5/2019. It has no clear timeframe, despite the fact that the biodiesel production needs land areas for oil palm cultivation.”
“There is also lack of coordination among the ministries and institutions in managing the oil palm plantations. They tend to disregard the legal products of other institutions, threatening the legal positions of oil palm plantations. For example, if the ministry of environment and forestry (KLHK) issued a regulation, the ministry of agrarian and spatial planning (ATR) will ignore it,” said Sadino.
He said that the lack of coordination among the government institutions has hindered the palm oil industry players in their efforts to tackle the challenges of palm oil industry. “If such condition continues, the palm oil industry will be facing a serious threat in Indonesia,” he said.
Considering such condition, Sadino underlined the importance of improving the prevailing regulations on palm oil industry to ensure the sustainability of the industry in Indonesia, especially the biodiesel program and palm oil down-streaming. “We need the improvement to sustain the biodiesel program and long term investment in our palm oil industry,” he said. (*)
Source: sawitkita.id
