West Sulawesi Set To Maintain Surplus in Rice

Mamuju, Dec 19(ANTARA)- West Sulawesi Governor Anwar Adnan Saleh hopes that his province could maintain surplus of more than 5 percent in rice production in 2013. West Sulawesi has received a token of appreciation from the central government for its success in recording a surplus of more than 5 percent in rice production, Anwar said . West Sulawesi has been included among the provinces to have succeeded in contributing to the country`s food security, he said here on Wednesday. Anwar was one among 10 governors and 100 regents and city mayors recently receiving token of appreciation from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for success in increasing food production. Anwar thanks the West Sulawesi farmers for their contribution to to food security in the province and the nation. West Sulawesi produced around 368,000 tons of rice in 2011 giving a surplus of 80,000 tons. Anwar also said the West Sulawesi administration hope to cut unemployment rate to 5.8 percent in 2013 from around 6.4 percent in 2012 and 6.6 percent in 2011. Unemployment rate could be reduced by implementing all projects especially labor intensive projects planned in the province, he said. He said in 2013 there are a number of projects to be implemented in the province including a cooking oil factory in the regency of Mamuju Utara and a fishing terminal in the regency of Majene. There are also a cacao processing factory to be built in Polman, a rattan processing plant in the regency of Mamuju and infrastructure projects in various areas, he added. He said in 2015 unemployment rate could be reduced to only 2 percent. The provincial administration is also set to cut poverty rate to 9.5 percent in 2013, he said . He said the poverty rate in the province has continued to decline from year to year to 13.89 percent in 2011 and to an estimated 13.24 percent in this year. He attributed the decline in poverty rate to construction and improvement of infrastructure projects in various areas in the province. Improvement of infrastructure helped facilitate distribution of goods and marketing of goods especially farm products, he said. Farmers and fishermen find easier access to market for their products with the improvement of road and port facilities, he added. Meanwhile, the investment sector has grown rapidly , he said, adding investors are encouraged to do business in the provinces with the availability of adequate infrastructure. He promised the regional administration would be more aggressive in building more and improving infrastructure projects.