JAKARTA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government is preparing a large-scale salt pond project in Rote Ndao, East Nusa Tenggara province, as the country targets self-sufficiency in salt production by 2027.
Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono said on Thursday that Rote has a lake area of approximately 10,000 hectares, which is estimated to produce up to 5 million tons of salt.
"The area is considered to have great potential, including the existence of a lake that will be used as salt production land based on bay water," Trenggono said at his office in Jakarta, as quoted by local media.
According to data from Statistics Indonesia, the country imported 2.8 million tons of salt in 2023, valued at 1.35 trillion rupiahs (82.6 million U.S. dollars).
The imports were necessary because local salt production, only around 2.5 million tons, was insufficient to meet domestic demand. Data from Indonesia's Ministry of Industry shows that the country's total salt requirement for both industrial and consumer use reached 4.9 million tons.
Despite current challenges, Trenggono remains optimistic that the project will strengthen the national salt industry. ■
