KARIMUN – Since 30 years ago, Sinar has started a business to develop wheat flour. The effort he did was inspired by seeing the many sago trees around his house.
Sago flour is much needed because it is a raw material for the manufacture of various kinds of food.
Residents of Batu Limau Village, Ungar Subdistrict, Karimun Regency continue to strive to develop the potential of the abundant sago tree in their village.
It is not easy for Sinar to run a business, the ups and downs of business have hit him, and he has gone through various challenges. But he persisted with his efforts.
Thanks to his tenacity and persistence in running his business, Sinar and his family can feel the fruits of their hard work so that the business of making sago flour continues to develop from time to time and can be used as a foundation and able to support their family's life.
Sinar's sago is one of the best sago in Ungar District, Karimun Regency. The sago flour produced by Sinar is widely used by the community to make various types of processed foods, one of which is lakse noodles which are well known in the area.
Sinar said that starting a sago flour business was not easy, she faced various obstacles, but thanks to the support of her family and seeing around where she lived there were abundant raw materials. Sinar was optimistic that in the future this sago business would be able to develop.
"Because I am not young anymore, my son, Laminto is now running his business. He is also assisted by several people," he said when met some time ago.
To give encouragement to all Sinar workers, they still come to the Sago processing site every day.
Sinar had difficulty developing its sago business due to limited capital. However, he began to find a solution after receiving information about PT Timah Tbk's Micro Small Business Funding (PUMK) program.
"After getting a capital injection from PT Timah, I was finally able to develop a sago business that had been pioneered for a long time," he said.
The capital he earns is used for business purposes such as purchasing raw materials and adding tools, and other necessities.
Sinar explained, before the COVID-19 pandemic spread, processed sago was able to meet the needs of local and neighboring countries for sago flour. Sinar's sago flour was sent to Pekanbaru, Riau Province, Tanjung Pinang, and Batam.
Sinar sago flour has also entered neighboring countries such as Malaysia and Singapore.
"But since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, my business has also been affected. Apart from the impact of restrictions on community activities, several sea transportation routes have been closed to several regions and also outside the country so that sago cannot be sold outside the region," he said.
Sinar was forced to reduce the amount of production and only meet the needs of sago flour for the community around Ungar and Kundur Districts.
He is grateful that with the capital injection from PT Timah, his business is still able to produce and does not reduce workers so that it does not cause new problems.
“There must be ups and downs in business, just face it with optimism. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the company provided a lot of leeway for its fostered partners. This program is very helpful to develop my business, this is very good,” he said.
