REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Agency for Technology Assessment and Application (BPPT) already has the technology to overcome salt scarcity in the country, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan disclosed here on Thursday.

Luhut stated that the application of the technology would be discussed with Research, Technology and Higher Education Minister Mohamad Nasir.

"BPPT can produce salt. I have reported this to the Vice President. Tomorrow, we will hold a meeting with experts of the Research, Technology and Higher Education Ministry. It is of low cost, no matter how the weather condition is," he stated.

If the technology is feasible, it could be applied soon. "Thus, we can increase (salt) production, and we do no need to import," he noted.

The technology is expected to be applied first in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.

"After we succeed in Kupang, we can then apply this in Madura and so on," he added.

Also read: Central Java to produce salt in its northern coastal areas

Meanwhile, head of BPPT Unggul Priyanto, remarked that the agency was concerned about the current salt scarcity in the country, especially for consumption and industry.

An integrated salt-production facility that would enable farmers to produce high concentration of salt within 4 to 5 days could be made by establishing multilevel sea water reservoir and mechanization of harvesting method.

"We would also need to establish multi-purpose salt plant that could produce not only salt but also better products for food and beverage industry and supplement industry," he revealed.

Furthermore, it would need the development of infrastructure in lower rainfall areas, such as East Nusa Tenggara and South Sulawesi, to design them as national salt production centers.

Previously, the government had tasked PT Garam to import 75 thousand tons of salt from Australia to meet the commodity's demand and stabilize its price.

The import is expected to arrive at three major ports, namely Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya, Belawan Port in Sumatra, and Ciwandan Port in Banten, on Aug 10.

PT Garam would wait for salt harvesting period in Aug, which is expected to produce 350 thousand tons of salt, while farmers' salt production is expected to reach 1 million tons.

As of June 30, the company's salt production has reached 3.9 thousand tons.

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