Minister for Maritime Disappointed with Greenpeace Who Boarded a Palm Oil Tanker

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut B. Pandjaitan has expressed concern and disappointment with Greenpeace activists who boarded a tanker off Spain loaded with palm oil. Protest in such a way was considered to be uncivilized action that might have a harmful effect to Indonesian oil palm smallholders. “People of Indonesia may suffer a lot. If they are Indonesian, they should have respected their own country,” Luhut said in his office in Jakarta, Monday (19/11/2018) as reported by Kontan. Six Greenpeace actvists from Indonesia, Germany, Inggris, France, Canada, and the US boarded Stolt Tenacity tanker in Cadiz, Spain, (18/11/2018). The ship was traveling from Dumai, Indonesia loaded with palm oil owned by Wilmar International. Luhut, who also lead Indonesia delegation on palm oil negotiation, said that palm oil is important commodity for the people of Indonesia since it contributes a lot to poverty reduction and those contributions can help the country. Almost 41 percent of palm oil producers are smallholders and 17,5 people make a living from palm oil industry. “Please take a look at the impact of palm oil that can reduce poverty. How could they hijack the ship? You can’t do that.” The government, Luhut added, has reaffirmed its commitment to the environment. President Joko Widodo has instructed to halt the issuance of new permits for palm oil plantations as regulated by Presidential Instruction number 8 year 2018. A part from halting issuance new permits, the moratorium also order a review of the existing permits amid deforestation concerns. Currently, the government is also implementing replanting program to boost productivity. It is expected to boost the productivity of smallholders’ oil palm plantations from 1.9 ton per hectare to 4-6 ton per hectare. ***