Karimun, Riau Islands (ANTARA News) - A tapioca factory is believed to be a solution to the problems of the 7,715 poor families in Karimun District.
The statement was made by Parlindungan Lubis, a public leader in Tebing subdistrict on Friday, while adding that this is an easier and more practical way than continue hoping for the benefits of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) which for almost one year now still remained a project.
Even if the SEZ has become a reality, there is no guarantee that the people of Karimun District would get its benefits, he said.
Therefore Lubis hoped the Karimun district administration should not hope too much from the central government`s promises and instead give more attention to improving the welfare of the people.
"Honestly speaking, how much has the money from the Karimun budget of 2006 and 2007 been spent on preparations for the building of SEZ infrastructure, while practically nothing of the project has been realized until now," he said.
With a view to improving the economy of the people, it is not so difficult to obtain cassava roots. The core of the problem is that the Karimun district administration has been doing nothing in increasing employment opportunities.
"Employment opportunities could be opened up if the Karimun district administration invited investors who may have direct contacts with the people by, among other things, building a tapioca producing plant," he said.
For example, a tapioca producing factory with a production capacity of 50,000 tons per month, may need at least 300,000 cassava seedlings which could be harvest after six months, he added.
Theoretically, he said, if each poor family under this scheme provides the basic material (cassava roots) of the tapioca plant, the program of poverty eradication may be successful, and other relevant industrial enterprises may also emerge and develop.
Even the discarded skin and waste material of cassava roots could be processed into fodder and feed for livestock and fish, Lubis said.
Besides, he added, there would no longer any unused land, as the people would no longer hesitate to sell their cassava roots in large scale.
Some 35-km of land on both sides of the Tanjung Batu road via Sawang to Belia strait, are still unproductive.
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