By Andi Abdussalam
Jakarta, Jan 27 (Antara) - The government, which boasted of no rice import last year, has decided to import rice this year, through the state-owned logistic board Bulog, amid opposition by farmers and other parties.
Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives, Taufik Kurniawan, expressed his hope that the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) will validate the data on the plan to import rice, which sparked controversies in the community of late.
"The data need BPS validity, and a disclosure of information is needed on the type of import," Kurniawan stated in a release on Saturday.
The validity of data is important to assure whether rice import is needed or not.
A joint assessment, conducted by the BPS and the Ministry of Trade a couple of years ago, has found that Indonesia's per capita consumption of rice was 114 kilograms per annum.
Under the basis of the estimated population of 262 million in 2017, with a per capita rice consumption of 114 kilograms per annum, the domestic needs for rice reaches about 30 million tons.
Based on data at the Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesia¿s unhusked rice production in 2016 reached 79.1 million tons. In 2017, unhusked production target was set at 78 million tons, or equivalent to 45.2 million tons of hulled rice. This means there will be a surplus of 15.2 million tons.
No official data has been released yet on the national production that has been made in 2017; yet, the Ministry of Agriculture has announced recently that there could be surplus in rice production.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, an understanding of the existing data and distribution will explain several questioned on the surplus stock data of high-yielding rice.
For example, according to BPS, rice production in 2016 stood at 79.14 million tons compared to 70.85 million tons in 2014, an increase of 11.7 percent. When questioned further where the 11.7 percent rice increase was, the response was that increase existed in five places namely in households, small rice millings, traders, Bulog, and horeka (hotels, restaurant and cafee).
Head of BPS Suhariyanto noted that his bureau had not release food production data since 2016 as it was allegedly overestimated.
BPS wants to improve the methodology of calculating food production data by cooperating with the BPPT to apply area sample framework method.
Yet, according to Kurniawan, who is the politician of the National Mandate Party (PAN), if the data used differs from the fact, it has the potential to trigger unexpected things. Kurniawan also does not want the rice import policy to be taken advantage by people of certain interests.
"It can cause chaos if individual interests are involved. They would say it is premium rice (to be imported), but in reality, there would be a non-premium one that will harm our interest. After all, the price of rice now has reached Rp13 thousand per kilogram. It will clearly put burden on the people," he added.
Meanwhile, farmers in several parts of the country have voiced their opposition regarding the government plan to import rice. The plan to import rice will deal a blow to local farmers if the government realizes it, Chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB) Muhaimin Iskandar said.
"We regret it. Why should we import rice while the country will enter harvest time?" he remarked in Jakarta on Friday. From the beginning, PKB has urged the government to stop importing rice and make use of local rice, he stated.
Farmers in Central Java staged a rally on Monday to protest against the government's plan to import rice, stating that it will lower local rice prices. The farmers who staged the rally in Pati Square carried posters, which read "What is behind the rice import? Farmers in Sukolilo sub-district have rejected the rice import. Let us reject together the policy, which causes misery to farmers."
"We are extremely worried if the plan to import rice is realized, as we are entering the harvest season," one of the demonstrator, Sukardi, noted.
Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo stated on Saturday (Jan 20) that the province needs no imported rice, as the harvest season is expected soon.
"We do not need imported rice. Give it to the other regions that need it," Pranowo remarked, during his impromptu visit to the Legi Market in Solo, Central Java.
The provincial government will supervise all ports and entry points in the province to ensure that imported rice will not enter Central Java, he noted.
Therefore, Chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), Zulkifli Hasan, has reminded the government not to import rice before the harvest time, as it may cause the price of rice to drop during the harvest season.
"The decision to import rice before the harvest time creates injustice, because it will harm local farmers," Hasan stated at the Parliament Building in Jakarta on Thursday.
He called on President Joko Widodo to prevent rice imports ahead of the harvest period, as it would be detrimental to local farmers, whose incomes are already limited.
According to him, if rice imports are done before the harvest, then the rice stock will increase sharply. This will result in drastic drop in rice price, resulting in loss for local farmers.
"I appeal to the president to avoid any incidental policies that could disrupt the main policy of the government," he noted.
According to Vice President Jusuf Kalla, the government decided to import 500 thousand tons of rice due to the declining supply in the domestic market.
"We have a reference price. If (the rice price) is above the reference price, then Bulog (the national logistics board) must sell (its rice). But because the stocks are declining, Bulog must import rice first and later sell it. If the price falls, it must buy rice to push up the price. That's the system," Kalla explained after inaugurating the executive board of the Indonesian Mosque Council at the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta on Friday.
***4*** (A014/INE)EDITED BY INE
(T.A014/B/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 28-01-2018 04:28: |
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