Oil palm plantation penetrates nine districts in S Kalimantan

Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan 7/3 (AntaranewsKalsel) - Development of oil palm plantations in the province of South Kalimantan is very rapid, and now nine out of 13 districts and cities has been penetrated.

Chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) for South Kalimantan Totok Dewanto was speaking as a guest speaker at Communication Sciences program in the Faculty of Social and Political Science University of Lambung Mangkurat Banjarmasin, Tuesday.

Oil palm plantations in the province of South Kalimantan, he said, is about 400 thousand hectares.

Nine districts that has developed it, namely Kotabaru, Tanah Bumbu, Tanah Laut, Tapin, South Hulu Sungai Selatan (HSS), Hulu Sungai, Tabalong, Balangan, and Barito Kuala.

Plantations development, Totok continued, had a positive impact, including jobs for the community, in addition to supporting the growth of economy of surrounding communities and the area in general.

He said South Kalimantan palm oil output relatively abundant, so it has penetrated the national and even international markets.

According to him, communities fear to the negative impacts of oil palm plantations for the environment is redundant.

"A lot of negative campaigning on oil palm plantations, and in fact not the case, it was all a hoax," he said.

PR of PT Astra Agro Lestari Tbk Topan Mahdi also said that the information of negative impact of oil palm plantation is very heavily exhaled, and extended campuses and schools.

"So we continue to do this kind of discussion to campuses and schools to explain the truth, of course, to block the negative campaign to plantations of oil palm," he explained.