Jokowi Orders Bapanas to Distribute Rice to Markets Amid Scarcity
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12 February 2024 15:17 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi ordered the National Food Agency (Bapanas) to distribute Bulog rice stock to anticipate scarcity.
The decision was taken after an internal meeting at the Presidential Palace on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024. Bapanas Head Arief Prasetyo said that he and State-Owned-Enterprise Minister Erick Thohir will head to Cipinang Rice Market in East Jakarta to observe the unloading of rice from the port.
According to Arief, the rice stock in Cipinang is fairly high at 34,000 tons. “[Jokowi] ordered to flood the market,” he said.
Jokowi’s order came after rice became scarce in a number of retail stores. The Head of the Indonesian Retail Entrepreneurs Association (Aprindo) Roy N. Mandey explained that the situation was caused by “the lack of harvest which is expected to enter its season by mid-March 2024.”
The scarcity was exacerbated by the lack of rice distributed under the Food Supply and Price Stabilization (SPHP) program. Existing SPHP rice in modern retail stores is priced at Rp10,900 per kg, way under Java’s highest market price of regular premium rice at Rp13,900 per kg.
When asked about the rice scarcity, Arief said “This is our duty to ensure [the rice] enters all outlets, traditional or modern. Allow us to prepare for it.”
The director of Bulog Bayu Krisnamurthi claimed that rice availability, especially those distributed under the SPHP program will be back to normal today.
“God willing, [premium rice under SPHP] will be back to normal [at modern retail] on Monday,” Bayu said in a statement cited by Tempo on Monday, February 12, 2024
DANIEL A. FAJRIL | YOHANES MAHARSO JOHARSOYO
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