Merauke is expected to become the main source of national rice stock in the next two years, according to Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman.
"We are optimistic that the next two years of self-sufficiency will start from here," he remarked after a two-day working visit to Wanam District, Merauke, on August 18-19.
During the visit, he evaluated the progress in optimizing 40 thousand hectares of swamp land spread across six districts.
To date, he highlighted that construction has reached more than half, with land cultivation and planting having reached 6,500 hectares.
The rice planting process would continue along with the completion of the harvest and construction of agricultural infrastructure, such as canals, bridges, and roads.
Sulaiman also reviewed the construction of a 135.5 km road from Ilwayab to Ngguti, which supported the 1 million hectare rice field program. The road was expected to be completed in the next three months.
The minister checked the volume of water channels along the road and instructed to increase the width and depth to optimize irrigation.
"We design it as long storage to irrigate the one million hectares of rice fields that we are preparing," he explained.
In addition, Sulaiman instructed to create one hectare of rice planting plot along the road at a distance of every five kilometers. This plot will be proof of the suitability of land in Merauke to support rice growth.
The first stage of land optimization in the districts of Merauke, Tanah Miring, Semangga, Kurik, Janggebob, and Malind will be expanded from 40 thousand hectares to 100 thousand hectares.
To accelerate the realization of the target, 70 excavators have been mobilized from Wanam to those districts, and an additional 20 large combine harvesters and seeds will be readied this month.
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Translator: Abdul Kadir, Yashinta Difa
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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2) Australia and Indonesia finalise upgraded defence agreement during incoming president's visit
By foreign affairs reporter Stephen Dziedzic
In short:
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced Australia and Indonesia have finalised negotiations on a defence agreement during a visit by Indonesia's incoming president, Prabowo Subianto.
The agreement is expected to facilitate more ambitious joint military exercised between the two countries.
What's next?
Defence Minister Richard Marles and Mr Prabowo are expected to sign the agreement in Jakarta later this month.
Australia and Indonesia have finalised negotiations on an upgraded defence agreement which the federal government is hailing as the "most significant" pact the two countries have ever signed.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made the announcement after sitting down with Indonesia's Defence Minister and incoming president Prabowo Subianto in Canberra.
The new agreement is expected to facilitate more ambitious joint military exercises between the two countries, and will be signed by Mr Prabowo and Defence Minister Richard Marles in Jakarta later this month.
Mr Albanese said the "treaty-level" agreement would "bolster our strong defence cooperation by deepening dialogue, strengthening interoperability and enhancing practical arrangements".
"It will be a vital plank for our two countries to support each other's security, which is vital to both countries, but also to the stability of the region that we share," he said.
Mr Marles called the agreement "profoundly historic" and the "most significant agreement that our two countries have ever made".
"What this agreement will do is provide for much greater interoperability between our defence forces," he said.
"It will provide for much more exercises between our defence forces, it will see us working together in the global commons to support the rules-based order and, importantly, it will allow us to operate from each other's countries."
Agreement a 'great outcome'
But Mr Prabowo only made a fleeting reference to the agreement in his public remarks, saying the two countries had made "great progress" in "iron[ing] out legalistic details" in the agreement, which he called a "great outcome".
The president-elect also opened his meeting with Mr Albanese by stressing that he was "determined" to continue the non-aligned foreign policy priorities of the incumbent President Joko Widodo.
"As you know we are, by tradition, non-aligned. By tradition our people do not want us to be involved in any geopolitical or military alliances or groupings," he said.
"I myself am determined to continue this policy.
"I have announced many times that we want the best of relationships with all great powers, but especially with our neighbours."
Mr Prabowo said the bilateral relationship with Australia was a "very high" priority for him.
"I'm very cognisant and very aware of the importance of the Australia-Indonesia relationship, being neighbours," he said.
"I'd like to continue this collaboration and this cooperation."
Mr Prabowo suggested Australian investment in South-East Asia and Indonesia was still lagging, and declared he wanted to see stronger ties between the two nations.
"We would like to see more Australian participation in our economy," he said.
"We would also like to see closer collaboration and consultation on various fields [so] … that we can achieve outcomes that respect both our economic interests, both our national interests."
Analysts say agreement not a fundamental change
Susannah Paton, from the Lowy Institute, said while the federal government was keen to talk up the significance of the agreement, it would not fundamentally change the relationship between Australia and Indonesia.
"Australia-Indonesia defence ties have been on a really positive trajectory for the past five years, with much more frequent and ambitious combined military exercises," she told the ABC.
"The new defence cooperation agreement recognises this reality and will help facilitate combined activities, but it does not signify a transformation of the two countries' strategic relationship which will still remain limited by differing world views including on China and the United States."
David Andrews, from the National Security College, told the ABC that while the new agreement could "meaningfully improve bilateral cooperation and interoperability" it would be "extremely generous to suggest that it is more fundamentally important than the 1995 Security Agreement and the 2006 Lombok Treaty [between Australia and Indonesia]".
He said the 1995 agreement struck by then-prime minister Paul Keating — which was later torn up by Indonesia — was more expansive than this pact because it included "alliance-like obligations for both parties; that they would consult together to determine what actions they might take in response to external threats".
"Streamlining bilateral defence cooperation is crucial, and can rightly celebrated as a significant achievement delivered in such a short space of time," he said.
"But it does not change the fundamental structure of the relationship and the mutual obligations on both parties in such a way that it could truly be considered 'the most significant agreement our countries have ever made'."
Human rights concerns
Indonesia shredded the 1995 agreement during the Timor Crisis, when Australia led a multinational force to restore order in East Timor after Indonesian government-backed militias unleashed a campaign of murder and terror that left hundreds dead and displaced countless more.
Human rights groups are also demanding that Australia ramp up pressure on Indonesia over extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in West Papua, and say Australia must ensure its military equipment and support does not further human rights abuses in the Indonesian province.
Australia director at Human Rights Watch Daniela Gavshon said the federal government should also press Indonesia to allow a long delayed visit to West Papua by the United Nations human rights office.
"Australian leaders should not let Prabowo's egregious rights record deter them from forcefully raising current human rights concerns," she said.
"They should emphasise that the new president has an important opportunity to restore Indonesia's standing on West Papua and other human rights issues."
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3) RI, Australia complete negotiation on defense cooperation agreement
August 20, 2024 17:49 GMT+700
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia (RI)Prabowo Subianto and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the completion of negotiations on a new Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) between both nations.
During a press conference after a meeting at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Tuesday, Prabowo stated that the two countries had made good progress in the negotiations.
"We have straightened out a number of details related to legal matters, which, in my opinion, the results are also good," he noted.
At the same press conference, Australian PM Albanese stated that the new defense agreement was historic.
"This historic agreement will strengthen our defense cooperation through dialogue, strong interoperability, and improved practices in the field. This will be a vital reference for the two countries and stability in the region," Albanese affirmed.
He stated that Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles would fly to Jakarta in the next few days to ink the defense agreement with his Indonesian counterpart, Prabowo.
Australian Defense Minister Marles, who concurrently serves as deputy prime minister, explained that the completion of the new defense agreement negotiations paved the way for the two countries to hold more joint military exercises.
"This agreement will increase interoperability between the armed forces of the two countries," Marles stated.
He emphasized that the new defense agreement would be the most important cooperation document ever made by Indonesia and Australia.
"On the map, we are indeed close neighbors; we share each other's fate. However, from now on, that fate is determined by a strong strategic mutual trust," he noted.
Marles explained that defense agreement negotiations generally take a long time, but Indonesia and Australia only needed less than two years to complete the negotiations.
During the press conference, Defense Minister Prabowo also emphasized the need to expand cooperation in other areas, including in the food security sector and agriculture, as well as eradication of drug smuggling.
"I think we discussed important issues, and this will be beneficial for the future of the two countries," Prabowo stated.
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Translator: Genta Tenri M., Yashinta Difa
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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