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The concept of hooking and not curling was held by PT Arun NGL in encouraging the growth of the economy. Economic support for the fishing community of Lhokseumawe was given in the form of the provision of three “rumpon” (Bahasa) in the waters of Muara Batu Subdistrict Lhokseumawe, Aceh (Indonesia). Rumpons are a tool that resembles trees installed on the sea floor to facilitate fishing operations for fishermen. "Two rumpon have been lowered into the sea in the Muara Satu waters, and have been used by fishermen to catch fish," says Arun's President Director at the time, Iqbal Hasan Saleh.

While one rumpon was designed and lowered to the sea. The rumpon were handed over to all fishermen to be managed properly, so that fishermen's income could increase from before.

"We continue to improve the economy of the community in PT Arun. Therefore, we hope the support from all parties so that Arun can become a fuel refinery so that assistance can be sustainable," Iqbal said.

Cocofiber

Through the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, PT Arun has successfully supported the initial export of 6 tons of coconut fiber to China, on Sunday, March 17, 2013. A coconut fiber processing plant in the village of Tanjong Beuridi, Kecamatan Peusangan Selatan, Bireuen was inaugurated by the local regent. The company was built in collaboration with the Indonesian Cocofiber Industry Association (AISKI) with PT Arun.

The plant was built on an initial survey conducted by AISKI. The Chairperson of AISKI, Efli Ramli, said Aceh was ranked as the 15th largest producer of coconut fruit in Indonesia, with an area of coconut plantations of 105,757 hectares. Every year, Aceh is able to produce about 1 billion coconuts. But unfortunately, the coconut fiber cannot be used by the community as an additional source of income. On the contrary, coconut husk has only become garbage.

But now, in the Bireuen area, not only the contents, shells are of economic value, but also cocofiber. This is due to the concern of PT Arun in cooperating with AISKI in utilizing coconut fiber owned by residents in Aceh.

For the first time, this cocofiber mill is not only designed to produce cocofiber, and cocopeat, but it has produced finished products such as composite plywood, mattresses, car seats, ropes, nets, cocopeat block, and others.

According to Efli, so far Aceh is not known as a national producer of cocofiber. However, with the help of PT Arun, Aceh will be taken into account in the international coco commodity market. In fact, if Aceh can develop it into finished products, then Aceh will be a reference for other coconut fiber producing regions in Indonesia.

"I hope that PT Arun NGL's concern for the development of the cocofiber industry in the region is followed by other companies in Indonesia. Thus, the unemployment and poverty rates which are a benchmark for failure of an area can be overcome," he said.

Efli explained, Indonesia is known as the largest producer of coconut in the world with an area of coconut plantations of 3.8 million hectares. But it still lags far behind Sri Lanka and India in using coconut fiber. Sri Lanka, which only has a coconut plantation area of 0.4 million hectares and India covering 1.9 million hectares, but they have been able to supply 70 percent of the needs of the world's coconut fiber.

"Indonesia has only been able to contribute about 10 percent to the needs of the world's cocofiber which amounts to 500 thousand tons per year. With additional production from Aceh, God willing, in the future Indonesia will be able to compete with these two countries," Efli said.

He added, nationally, Indonesia was only able to process its coir around 3.2 percent of the total production of around 15 billion grains per year. That is, there are 14.5 billion coconut grains each year not yet processed into economic value commodities.

"The problem of using coconut fiber in Aceh, which we have been thinking for years, has found a solution. Because of that, our great hope is that PT Arun can develop finished products," says Efli Ramli.

Bireuen's Secretary at the time, Zulkifli, said that the Bireuen Regency Government would continue to encourage the growth of the community's economic empowerment sector, including the construction of a coconut fiber mill industrial facility which is PT Arun's CSR program.

"We appreciate what PT Arun has done successfully. Coaching to the community through this cocofiber processing plant will be able to accommodate dozens of workers and hundreds of collectors," says Zulkifli.

He hopes, PT Arun can expand coaching in other sectors in Bireuen District "Bireuen Regency Government is open and facilitates all licensing processes for the development of the industrial, trade and other sectors," says Zulkifli more.

After PT Arun stopped operating because the gas reserves in the Arun Block had run out, the business of processing the coconut belt was not running optimally. In fact, residents already have the skills to process cocofibers and have a network to market them. Apparently, capabilities and networks alone are not enough without mental support as entrepreneurs.[]

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Usaha Rumpon dan Sabut Kelapa: Mengenang PT Arun NGL

Konsep memberi kail dan bukan ikal dipegang PT Arun NGL dalam mendorong tumbuhnya perekonomian. Dukungan bidang perekonomian bagi masyarakat nelayan Lhokseumawe diberikan dalam bentuk penyediaan tiga rumpon di kawasan perairan Kecamatan Muara Batu Lhokseumawe, Aceh. Rumpon adalah salah satu alat bantu menyerupai pepohonan yang dipasang pada dasar laut untuk mempermudah operasi tangkapan ikan bagi nelayan. “Dua rumpon di antaranya telah diturunkan ke laut di kawasan perairan Muara Satu, dan telah dimanfaatkan oleh nelayan untuk menangkap ikan,” kata Presiden Direktur PT Arun saat itu, Iqbal Hasan Saleh.

Sedangkan satu rumpon lagi dirancang dan diturunkan ke laut. Rumpon tersebut diserahkan ke semua nelayan untuk dikelola dengan baik, sehingga pendapatan nelayan bisa bertambah dari sebelumnya.

“Kami terus berupaya meningkatkan perekonomian masyarakat di lingkungan PT Arun. Karena itu, kami berharap dukungan dari semua pihak supaya Arun bisa menjadi kilang BBM sehingga bantuan bisa berkelanjutan,” kata Iqbal.

Sabut kelapa

Melalui program Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) pula, PT Arun telah berhasil mendukung ekspor perdana 6 ton sabut kelapa ke Cina, pada Minggu 17 Maret 2013. Pabrik pengolahan sabut kelapa di Desa Tanjong Beuridi, Kecamatan Peusangan Selatan, Bireuen telah diresmikan bupati setempat. Perusahaan itu dibangun atas kerjasama Asosiasi Industri Sabut Kelapa Indonesia (AISKI) dengan PT Arun.

Pabrik dibangun atas survei awal yang dilakukan AISKI. Ketua Umum AISKI, Efli Ramli, mengatakan Aceh termasuk peringkat ke-15 penghasil buah kelapa terbesar di Indonesia, dengan luas areal kebun kelapa 105.757 hektar.

Tiap tahun, Aceh mampu menghasilkan sekitar 1 miliar butir buah kelapa. Tapi sayangnya, sabut kelapanya belum bisa dimanfaatkan masyarakat sebagai sumber penghasilan tambahan. Sebaliknya, sabut kelapa selama ini hanya menjadi sampah.

Namun kini, di kawasan Bireuen, bukan hanya isi, tempurung yang bernilai ekonomis, tapi juga sabut kelapa. Hal ini atas berkat kepedulian PT Arun mengandeng AISKI dalam memanfaatkan sabut kelapa milik warga di Aceh.

Untuk tahap awal, pabrik sabut kelapa ini tidak hanya dirancang untuk menghasilkan cocofiber dan cocopeat, tapi sudah menghasilkan produk jadi seperti plywood komposit, matras, jok mobil, tali, jaring, cocopeat block, dan lain-lain.

Menurut Efli, selama ini Aceh tidak dikenal sebagai produsen sabut kelapa nasional. Namun, dengan bantuan PT Arun, Aceh akan diperhitungkan di pasar komoditas sabut kelapa internasional. Bahkan, jika Aceh dapat mengembangkannya hingga ke produk jadi, maka Aceh akan menjadi rujukan bagi daerah-daerah penghasil sabut kelapa lainnya di Indonesia.

"Saya berharap, kepedulian PT Arun NGL terhadap pengembangan industri sabut kelapa di daerah, diikuti pula oleh perusahaan-perusahaan lain di Indonesia. Dengan demikian, angka pengangguran dan kemiskinan yang menjadi tolok ukur kegagalan suatu daerah dapat ditanggulangi," ujarnya.

Efli menjelaskan, Indonesia yang dikenal sebagai produsen buah kelapa terbesar di dunia dengan luas areal kebun kelapa 3,8 juta hektar. Tapi masih tertinggal jauh dari Srilanka dan India dalam pemanfaatan sabut kelapa. Srilanka yang hanya memiliki areal kebun kelapa seluas 0,4 juta hektar dan India seluas 1,9 juta hektar, tapi mereka telah mampu memasok 70 persen kebutuhan sabut kelapa dunia.

“Indonesia baru mampu berkontribusi sekitar 10 persen terhadap kebutuhan sabut kelapa dunia yang jumlahnya mencapai 500 ribu ton per tahun. Dengan tambahan produksi dari Aceh, Insya Allah ke depan Indonesia akan mampu bersaing dengan dua negara tersebut,” kata Efli.

Ditambahkannya, secara nasional, Indonesia baru mampu mengolah sabut kelapanya sekitar 3,2 persen dari total produksi sekitar 15 miliar butir per tahun. Artinya, ada 14,5 miliar butir kelapa tiap tahunnya belum diolah menjadi komoditas bernilai ekonomis.

“Persoalan pemanfaatan sabut kelapa di Aceh yang sudah bertahun-tahun kami pikirkan, telah ditemukan solusinya. Karena itu harapan besar kami PT Arun dapat mengembangkan produk jadi,” tandas Efli Ramli.

Sekda Bireuen saat itu, Zulkifli, menyebutkan Pemkab Bireuen akan terus mendorong tumbuhnya sektor pemberdayaan ekonomi masyarakat, termasuk pembangunan fasilitas industri pabrik sabut kelapa yang merupakan program CSR PT Arun.

“Kami memberikan apresiasi apa yang telah sukses dilakukan PT Arun. Pembinaan kepada masyarakat melalui pabrik pengolahan sabut kelapa ini akan mampu menampung puluhan pekerja dan ratusan pengumpul,” ujar Zulkifli.

Ia berharap, PT Arun dapat memperluas pembinaan di sektor lainnya di Kabupaten Bireuen “Pemkab Bireuen terbuka dan mempermudah segala proses perizinan untuk pembangunan sektor industri, perdagangan dan lainnya,” pungkas Zulkifli.

Setelah PT Arun berhenti beroperasi karena cadangan gas di Blok Arun sudah habis, usaha mengolah sabuk kelapa tidak berjalan maksimal. Padahal, warga sudah memiliki keterampilan mengolah sabuk kelapa dan memiliki jaringan untuk memasarkannya. Sepertinya, kemampuan dan jaringan saja belum cukup tanpa dukungan mental sebagai pengusaha.[]

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