TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Chairman of House of Representative (DPR) Commission IV overseeing agriculture, food, forestry, plantation and fishery and maritime affairs Edhy Prabowo demanded transparency from the government to share their data of rice stock in Indonesia other than in paddy fields and National Logistics Agency.
Warehouses importing rice, he continued, need to be inspected. “We want to ensure that people’s needs are met,” he said on Sunday (14/1).After that, mechanism of management needs to be improved.
In addition, he demanded the government to find out who controls the commodity’s price in the market. This is the first step to restore rice price in accordance with the highest retail price (HET) or the price set by the government.
Since rice price rose in a number of regions, the government plans to import 500,000 tons of rice from Vietnam and Thailand while waiting for the big harvest from February to March.
Nevertheless, Edhy questions the policy as Food Security Agency stated that rice supply in National Logistics Agency is sufficient.
“It doesn’t mean that we are anti-import, but we need to see the urgency,” he said.
ANDITA RAHMA