JAKARTA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Two of Indonesia's presidential candidates pledged to strengthen the government's authority over the palm oil sector to address issues around land usage and the dwindling productivity of the country's second-biggest export.
Indonesia, the world's biggest palm oil producer, is heading for a general election on Feb. 14 and all of the candidates have pledged to improve governance, remove red tape, and fight against campaigns, such as in Europe, attacking the environmental impact of the vegetable oil.
Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, who is leading the pre-election polls for president, plans to set up a palm oil body which will have the authority to synchronize rules by various ministries that oversee the sector, his campaign team member Panji Irawan said at a palm industry forum on Wednesday.
Prabowo will also help small farmers secure certification for lands that they have previously farmed even if those lands were disputed to be forest area, Panji said, which are supposed to be off-limits to cultivation.
Indonesia's palm oil output has slowed in recent years because of aging trees but farmers have complained they can't join the government's subsidised replanting programme because of issues surrounding land usage.
Ganjar Pranowo, the candidate from current President Joko Widodo's party, aims to set up a dedicated ministry for the palm oil sector if elected, his campaign team member Danang Girindrawardana told the forum.
"For something as complex as palm oil industry, why can't we set up a ministry? One ministry to oversee palm oil from upstream to downstream," Danang said.
Currently, palm oil cultivation is overseen by the agriculture ministry while refining is overseen by the industry ministry.
Former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, who is practically tied with Ganjar in pre-election polls, pledged that he will keep consistent regulation for the sector, his campaign team member Achmad Nur Hidayat said, noting the impact from changes to Indonesia's export policies in 2022.
Indonesia in 2022 banned all palm oil exports for three weeks to control soaring domestic prices of cooking oil, creating turmoil in the global edible oil market.
If elected, Anies will also boost the domestic refining industry of palm oil for both food and energy, Achmad added. (Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
