JAKARTA – Is it true that palm oil has no contribution to the development of infrastructure in rural areas?. Let’s find out the answer with the following facts.
The development of infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, is actually the responsibility of the government. As stipulated in UU (law) No.38/ 2004 on roads, the government (central government, provincial governments, and mayoralty/regental governments) have their authorities and responsibilities in developing and managing roads. The availability of roads from national to rural levels is proof of the governments’ presence among the general public.
The availability of the infrastructure in rural areas is an important variable in driving up the rural economies. Besides facilitating people’s mobility, the infrastructure of roads in villages is badly needed for transportation of products from village to village and from villages to market centres in cities.
The development of oil palm plantations was initially implemented in least developed, frontier, rural and isolated areas and degraded land areas. Within the context of rural area development, the development of oil palm plantations is a pioneer economic activity. As it is conducted in isolated areas, the investors of oil palm plantations will have to initially develop roads and bridges (acces roads) and farm roads as part of their development of their oil palm plantations (photo-5).
One of the biggest components of investments in oil palm plantation development is the development of roads and bridges (Rist et al., 2010; Obidzinksi et al., 2012; Budidarsono et al., 2013; Syahza et al., 2013, 2020; PASPI, 2014; Gatto et al, 2017; Edwards, 2019;). The development and maintenance of the road and bridge infrastructure in rural areas is also implemented through the program of corporate social responsibility (CSR) of the oil palm plantation companies (Suwandi et al., 2013; Marwan et al., 2016; Pambudi et al., 2017; Satria, 2017; Pasaribu, 2019; Fajrin and Anshari, 2019; Syahrida et al., 2019; Baihaqi et al., 2020).
The study of PASPI (2022) shows that the development of roads in the palm oil producing villages increased significantly. The quality of developed roads also increased as shown by the increase of proportion of paved roads and concrete roads, which is higher compared to those in non-producing villages.
The above facts show that the oil palm plantations have contributed to the development of infrastructure of roads and bridges in rural areas. As a result, the palm plantations have transformed the isolated villages into accessible and developed areas. The infrastructure has increased the rural areas’ accessibility and connectivity, which then improve their regional economies, education, health, social condition, and their public welfare. (*)
Source: Mitos & Fakta Kelapa Sawit – 4th Edition (4-08)
