JAKARTA – Tunas Sawa Erma Group claimed a trophy for the ‘Papua’s Economic Development’ category at Sawit Indonesia Magazine’s 2022 Sawit Indonesia Award, Wednesday (14/12). Representing the company was Director Luwy Leunufna.
“We highly appreciate what Sawit Indonesia Magazine did with this [award] show. We believe this event will help companies be more aware of how to run palm oil businesses that are sustainable and responsible for the surrounding communities,” Leunufna said.
Held in Aryaduta Hotel, Jakarta, 2022 Sawit Indonesia Award gave out 55 plaques to associations, companies, farmers, and individuals with a major role in local palm oil sector development.
Tunas Sawa Erma Group stood alongside names like the former National Army Commander and current Chief of Staff of Presidency Moeldoko (Palm Oil Program Monitoring awardee), Soedjai Kartasasmita (Lifetime Achievement awardee), and Prof. Bungaran Saragih (also Lifetime Achievement awardee).
Qayuum Amri, the award committee head, explained 2022 Sawit Indonesia Award as “an event that recognizes the work of national palm oil actors, may they be individuals or agencies”. It’s also the first of its kind in Indonesia.
“We’ve prepared 55 awards, including 12 for the Lifetime Achievement category, 7 for palm oil associations and research agencies, and 36 for oil palm producers and their supporting companies, based on their business field and focus,”
Tunas Sawa Erma Group Absorbs a Large Part of Papua’s Manpower
Tunas Sawa Erma Group (TSE Group) is one of Papua’s oil palm producers that contributes to the region’s labor absorption rate. According to Leunufna, more than 2,400 indigenous residents had been hired by the company in the span of three years (2019-2021), and as TSE Group expanded, this number would keep growing.
With Merauke’s minimum wage at 4.2 million IDR (by 2021), this means a total of 35 billion IDR had been circulating every month among these employees.
“As more and more locals work for Tunas Sawa Erma, we hope to see higher income distribution and better community welfare for many years,” Leunufna added in a written statement.
Since its inception in 1998, the company has been fully committed to taking part in Papua’s economic development. This determination has also persisted until today.
TSE Group’s financial statement in 2020 showed that at least 40% of Merauke and Boven Digoel’s locally-generated income was coming from the company. TSE Group also brought in land and building tax, vehicle tax, and non-tax state revenues for both regencies.
In Indonesia, oil palm is a leading, labor-intensive industry, and foreign exchange source.
Its absorption rates would also continue to rise, said Indonesian Palm Oil Association’s General Secretary, Eddy Martono. He predicted an additional 5 million people to work at the 16.3 million hectares (ha) plantation.
Data from the Directorate General of Plantation found that Papua’s oil palm planted areas reached 159,700 ha in 2020, and the size grew to 162,200 ha the following year. While West Papua has smaller plantation lands, it was 51,000 ha in 2020 and 51,800 ha in 2021.
“Our downstream sector isn’t fully-automated, so human workers remain in demand,” Martono explained.
Aside from providing jobs, TSE Group holds community empowerment activities like community services and cooking demonstrations to further enhance local welfare. In the demonstrations, the company enlists its trained farmer groups—which are spread across various locations—to go down to their own or other villages and teach how to make a multitude of cuisines with local ingredients.
By doing this, TSE hopes to inspire the local people to create new dishes out of the materials or use such materials to run a business, which will improve their financial condition.
Tunas Sawa Erma Group also donated a building for the Bog Dagon Mandiri Cooperative in Naga Village (Jair District, Boven Digoel Regency). The company provided chairs, boards, one water tank, one freezer, and ten cool boxes to support the co-op’s ice cube production.
Sumber: tsegroup.co.id