Trade Minister Allows Riau to Import Foods

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Trade Minister Thomas Lembong has allowed the Riau Islands Province to import food commodities to meet the needs of its people.

The decision about the ministers permission to the province, which shares border with four neighboring states, to import food commodities was disclosed by the Riau Islands Acting Governor, Agung Mulyana, after his meeting with Trade Minister Lembong on Tuesday.

The governor said the minister had never banned the import of goods by Batam, Bintan and Karimun, something a number of entrepreneurs had complained of.

"As long as it is in the interest of the local people and within reasonable limits, the minister never bans it," Mulyana said.

However, he said, the goods to be imported would only be for the residents of the Riau Islands Province. These should not be sent to other regions in the country. The volumes of such imports should also be based on the needs, and should not be excessive.

"If there are individuals who take food goods out of Riau in an unreasonable volume, it will be banned," he stressed.

He said that the Trade Minister could understand the conditions of the Riau Islands which consisted of many islands but did not have adequate food sources.

After all, Riau Islands four municipal districts, namely Batam, Bintan, Karimun and Tanjungpinan, are included in Riau Islands free trade and free port zones.

The acting governor said he would soon officially write to the minister to follow up on the results of their meeting.

The minister has promised to reply to a written request by the Riau Islands Province to accord legal certainty to the plan to import foods.

Earlier, Haripinto Tanuwidjaja, a member of the Regional Representative Council (DPD), had requested the central government to provide a license to the Riau Islands for importing rice to meet the needs of the local people living in the free trade and free port zones.

ANTARA