Vedro Imanuel G, Jakarta – Minister of Transmigration, Muhammad Iftitah Sulaiman Suryanegara, reveals the possibility for transmigrants to participate in food estate management. According to him, this will support Prabowo's food self-sufficiency goal.
"We are certainly planning for it since the goal is food self-sufficiency," said Iftitah when met after a working meeting with Commission V of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) on Tuesday, October 29, 2024.
The Ministry of Transmigration, Iftitah said, will promote transmigrant welfare by offering them various roles, especially ones working toward food self-sufficiency realization.
According to him, transmigrants will become the heroes of food self-sufficiency by assisting in the food estate project.
Transmigrants themselves will not necessarily manage the land provided by the government but delegated to ongoing relevant programs, such as tourism.
Previously, Iftitah mentioned that the Ministry of Transmigration received instructions from President Prabowo Subianto to implement the transmigration program in the eastern regions of Indonesia, especially Papua.
Uli Arta Siagian, Campaign Manager of Forest and Plantation at WALHI, also reckoned that the transmigration program is related to Prabowo's grand food estate ambition. The transmigrants, Uli said, will likely be employed to work on the food estate with low wages.
"This transmigration program will certainly support the large-scale food estate project," Uli said on Monday, October 28.
– Sukma Kanthi Nurani contributed to the writing of this article.