Jakarta, The Indonesia Post – Commission IV Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) rejected the rice import policy of one million tons and asked the government through the Indonesian Bureau of Logistics (Perum Bulog) to prioritize the absorption of domestic rice production as it enters the main harvest period in the March-April 2021 period.
“Commission IV DPR RI asked the government in the management of national food commodities to prioritize domestic production. Furthermore, Commission IV DPR RI rejects the decision on the plan to import one million tons of rice by Perum Bulog, “said Deputy Chairman of Commission IV DPR RI Hasan Aminuddin reading the conclusions of the results of the Joint Hearing Meeting (RDP) with the Ministry of Agriculture, Perum Bulog and BUMN food clusters Jakarta, Monday.
The importation of one million tonnes of rice has received a lot of resistance from a number of DPR members because they are considered not taking sides with Indonesian farmers. This is because the planned rice import policy is carried out at a time when domestic rice production is entering the main harvest period with increased production potential.
Director of Perum Bulog Budi Waseso in the meeting also said that currently the rice stock available in Bulog’s warehouse reached 883,585 tonnes, with details of 859,877 tonnes being Government Rice Reserve (CBP) stocks, and 23,708 tonnes of commercial rice stocks.
The stock is deemed sufficient for sales needs, the KPSA program, and disaster emergency response according to the needs of Perum Bulog. Even from the current CBP stock, Budi Waseso revealed that the quality of ex-imported rice in 2018 was 106,642 tons of total rice imports in 2018 of 1,785,450 tons.
Budi Waseso said that the total amount of rice that is already in its annual storage period is 461 thousand tons. Meanwhile, the remaining imported rice in 2018 that is still available at Bulog’s warehouse is 275,811 tons, of which 106,642 tons have decreased in quality.
Bulog admits that it is difficult to distribute the remaining rice exports in 2018 totaling 275,811 tons, some of which have experienced a decline in quality.
Therefore, Commission IV DPR RI also asks the government to give equal authority between absorbing farmer’s grain and assigning distribution to Perum Bulog in carrying out the assignment of procurement and distribution of national strategic food commodities.
“Furthermore, Commission IV DPR RI recommends continuing the assignment to Perum Bulog regarding CBP management by prioritizing the absorption of rice grain producers and assignments for distribution to low-income people in accordance with Presidential Regulation Number 48 of 2020 in the context of national food security, thus rice stock circulation occurs. in Perum Bulog, “said Hasan.
Previously, the government planned to import around 1 million tons of rice in early 2021. This amount was allocated for CBP supply of 500 thousand tons, and the need for Perum Bulog was 500 thousand tons, taking into account the absorption of national rice production. (rmt/bbs)
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