DIGIVESTASI - The name of Indonesian palm oil entrepreneur Martias Fangiono has been highlighted in President Jokowi's sugarcane self-sufficiency project in Merauke Regency, South Papua. This national strategic project (PSN) involves the development of 2.29 million hectares of land, equivalent to 70 times the size of Jakarta. The project aims to create new agricultural land, although this has sparked concerns that hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest in South Papua will be cleared to make way for the land. The project spans 19 of Merauke's 22 districts.

The massive project attracted attention when President Jokowi personally attended the first sugarcane planting at PT Global Papua Abadi's concession in Tanah Miring District on July 23, 2024. At the time, Jokowi was accompanied by Martias Fangiono, the founder of palm oil corporation First Resources, and his daughter, Wirastuty Fangiono.

According to a report by Tempo Newspaper titled “Ten Sugar Kings in Merauke Food Estate,” Yayasan Pusaka Bentala Rakyat suspects that First Resources, through PT Global Papua Abadi and four other companies-PT Andalan Manis Nusantara, PT Semesta Gula Nusantara, PT Borneo Citra Persada, and PT Dutamas Resources International-are involved in the project. Allegedly, these five companies are working with other large companies to build a consortium of sugarcane plantations in Merauke.

Martias Fangiono, known as the founder of palm oil company PT Surya Dumai Industri Tbk, is now back in the spotlight. The company went bankrupt and was delisted from the Indonesia Stock Exchange after Martias was caught in a corruption case in 2007, which led to a prison sentence and a Rp346 billion fine. However, his son, Ciliandra Fangiono, managed to bring a new company, First Resources, to the Singapore stock exchange.

In Greenpeace documents, First Resources is considered a spin-off of PT Surya Dumai Industri, alleging that it owns a number of shadow companies to manage palm oil in Indonesia, including PT Ciliandry Anky Abadi (CAA) and FAP Agri. Both companies are known to have shared an address with First Resources over the years.

Martias Fangiono himself is known to have seven children from two wives, Irawaty Fangiono and Silvia Caroline. His children, including Ciliandra and Wirastuty, have controlling stakes in First Resources. Wirastuty is even listed as the majority shareholder in FAP Agri, which was known during the IPO in 2020. 

Regarding First Resources' alleged involvement in the sugarcane project in Merauke, the company denied any connection with the companies involved in the project. In their statement, they emphasized that their main business is in the palm oil sector, with operations in Riau, East Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan.

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