ANTARA News - 2006-12-28 14:30:03
Jakarta, December 28, 2006 (ANTARA News) - Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla is scheduled to launch a national forest and land rehabilitation program in a ceremony held at Empol village, Sekotong, West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) on Thursday.
Kalla during the ceremony is also expected to present awards to eight governors, 15 district heads and mayors as well as 12 farmers` groups for their achievement in conducting forest and land rehabilitation programs in their respective regions.
Information from the Vice President`s Secretariat office said here on Thursday that among those receiving the awards would include Gorontalo Governor Fadel Muhammad.
During his stay in NTB, Jusuf Kalla is accompanied by Deputy Chairman of the People`s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Aksa Mahmud, Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono, Research and Technology Minister Kusmayanto Kadiman, Environmental Affairs Minister Rachmad Witoelar, Golkar Party Secretary General Sumarsono, and two legislators, namely Enggartiasto Lukito an and Rully Chairul Azwar.
Meanwhile, Mme. Mufidah Kalla is scheduled to visit a seaweed and cashew nut processing factory, PT Phonix Mas Persada, at Abian Tubuh, and a Lombok Pottery industry at Cakra Negara, Mataram city.
The Vice President and his entourage left Jakarta on Thursday by The Indonesian Air Force`s Boeing 737 presidential plane from the Halim Perdana Kusuma air force base.
An official reported earlier that the deforestation rate in Indonesia reached two million hectares annually while its reforestation rate was only around 600,000 hectares per year.
The deforestation rate has tended to increase from year to year, Dr. Harri Santosa, secretary of the organizing committee of the National Forest and Land Rehabilitation Program, said in Mataram, NTB Province on Wednesday.
Santosa said the deforestation rate in Indonesia was around 900,000 hectares in 1990 and it increased to 1.8 million hectares in 2004.
In 2006, the deforestation rate was recorded at 2.8 million hectares, he said, adding that the rate was two million hectares per year on the average.
The country`s total deforested areas were about 60 million hectares, he added.
Three Indonesian provinces, namely East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Southeast Sulawesi and NTB, were currently being threatened by desertification, he added.
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