Bapanas: 10-kg Rice Food Aid to Be Distributed by End of March
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27 March 2023 20:08 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Head of the National Food Agency or Bapanas Arief Prasetyo Adi, said that food assistance in the form of 10-kilogram of rice will be distributed starting March 30, 2023.
“The social assistance will begin to be distributed on March 30 by Perum Bulog [State Logistics Agency]," Arief told reporters on Monday, March 27, 2023.
According to Arif, 21,353 million people are targeted to receive the social aid. This figure was based on data from the Social Affairs Ministry.
"We have obtained the list [of recipients] from the Social Affairs Ministry. Bulog is preparing the packages," Arief added.
The distribution of food assistance was a follow-up to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's instruction to maintain food stability and suppress inflation spikes. Food assistance will be rolled out for three months from March to May 2023.
Arief said Bulog needed approximately 640,000 tons of rice to fulfill this program, while the government's current rice reserves (CBP) were only around 220,000 tons.
For this reason, the government planned to import another 2 million tons of rice to meet the demand. "We don't support import, but if domestic demand cannot be met, the country must take an intervention," Arief explained.
The government decided to import rice this year. Based on the completion of the assignment letter received by Tempo, the Bapanas Head ordered Perum Bulog to import 2 million tons of rice by December 2023. The letter disclosed that the first 500,000 tons of rice imports will be carried out as soon as possible.
ADE RIDWAN YANDWIPUTRA
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