Jakarta – Governance is in short supply in Indonesia. In the administration of Prabowo Subianto, transparency and accountability – the fundamental principles of public management – have been eroded by increasingly apparent conflicts of interest. The food estate project in South Papua is one example of this.

Instead of halting the food estate project, which has repeatedly proved a failure, the government is using all possible means – from tinkering with the regulations to deploying troops – to ensure the success of one of Prabowo's flagship projects. The government claims this national strategic project, located on 2.29 million hectares of land in Merauke Regency, South Papua, will result in rice self-sufficiency by 2027, and will meet the domestic demands for sugar and bioethanol the following year.

South Kalimantan tycoon Andi Syamsuddin Arsyad, alias Haji Isam, has been brought on board to clear the land. In July 2024, he brought 2,000 excavators worth Rp4 trillion from China to Wanam village, Merauke Regency, South Papua. At the time, it was not clear whether the financing scheme would use entirely private sector or state funds, given that the Prabowo government had yet to be officially formed.

But there is no such thing as a free lunch. Claiming that it was to accelerate food self-sufficiency, the National Public Procurement Agency (LKPP) subsequently issued Regulation No. 3/2025. It contains procurement guidelines and a budgeting mechanism for retroactive procurement or work in national food, energy, or water self-sufficiency areas.

Using this regulation, contracts for ongoing food estate programs can be drawn up later, with the project value calculated subsequently. This means that Isam can ask for payment from the government for work carried out in 2024 from the 2025 State Budget. This is different from the previous system: procurement began with the identification of needs based on studies. For the Rp7 trillion project in Wanam, the government has so far paid out Rp1 trillion for the construction of roads and facilities supporting the laying out of paddy fields.

Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan then expanded the Merauke megaproject to Boven Digoel, Mappi, and Asmat regencies. To realize Prabowo's dream of accelerating the achievement of food, energy, and water self-sufficiency, Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni issued Decree No. 591/2025 redesignating 489,940 hectares of forest in South Papua as other use areas (APL). Most of the cultivation permits (HGU) have been issued. There are indications that Isam was awarded a HGU for an oil palm plantation close to the Muting District.

As well as laying out rice fields and sugar plantations, this project will also create a 426,000-hectare oil palm plantation in Boven Digoel – 143,000 hectares from the redesignation of forests – to support the B50 biodiesel program. The remainder is land confiscated by the Forest Area Enforcement Task Force (Satgas PKH) established by Prabowo last year.

The expansion of the food estates went ahead without any proper planning – a precondition for programs to be sustainable and not harmful to the environment. The National Development Planning Ministry/National Development Planning Agency has yet to draw up a rice self-sufficiency national strategic roadmap. Meanwhile, the synchronization of the draft spatial plan for South Papua for 2025-2044 was rushed through in one month. With minimal involvement of indigenous communities, this spatial change could exacerbate agrarian conflicts.

Although it has been named as the rice field developer, Agrinas Pangan Nusantara is reluctant to begin work on the land because there is no legal umbrella for the assignment. Similarly, Agrinas Palma Nusantara was assigned as the operator for the oil palm plantations.

The food estate projects of the Prabowo era seem like a repeat of an old tune. Strategic environmental impact assessments, which should ideally be conducted to evaluate the environment's carrying capacity and determine suitable commodities and land, are only drafted after the government has already designated the locations. As a result, pilot rice field projects cannot be planted with rice due to land incompatibility. This magazine's investigation found that four plots of rice fields in Wanam, built by the government a year ago, now lie abandoned.

Without adequate criteria and feasibility studies, food estate projects easily raise suspicions that they are a means of distributing favors and repaying debts to a handful of businesspeople close to the Presidential Palace. By ignoring the principles of good governance, the food and energy self-sufficiency policy in South Papua has become a time bomb that could explode at any moment, causing social and environmental disaster.

– Read the complete story in Tempo English Magazine

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/2083144/the-bogus-food-estate-projec