INDONESIA NEEDS TO INCREASE DAIRY PRODUCTION

BY Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, June 6 (ANTARA) - Indonesia which has a population of 237.6 million is a big market for dairy products but so far its own milk production is still low so that it has to import most of its need for the food stuffs.          Indonesia has to import about 70 percent of its milk need while its fresh milk production is still low at about 1.4 million liters per day. Its per capita consumption is also low at about 11 liters a year.          Agriculture Minister Suswono said that the average milk consumption rate of the Indonesian people was still very low compared with those of other countries, namely about 11 liters per capita per year.          "The Indonesian people only consume about 11 liters of milk per capita per year. It accounts for only one-third of Malaysia's average milk consumption which is about 36 liters per capita per annum, let alone if it is compared with those of the Unite States and the Netherlands," the minister said  after attending the National Milk Day 2011 in Semarang on Saturday.         The present rate of Indonesian people's per capita milk consumption has actually increased compared with that about four years ago. This was thanks to the people's awareness of the health benefits of milk.          In 2007, Indonesian per capita milk consumption was about 7.7 kg a year and this increased by about 6 percent in 2008. There are three types of consumer products that continue to dominate the market, namely powdered milk, sweetened condensed milk, and liquid-ready to drink milk.         Consumption of liquid milk, powdered milk, and sweet condensed milk were growing by 20 percent, 10-12 percent, and 20 percent respectively in 2007.          By 2009, the per capita milk consumption of the people relatively remained low as compared to those other countries, namely about 10 liters per capita a year. This is far below that of Malaysia which reached 30 liters per capita per annum.          Last year, the Indonesian per capita milk consumption only rose slightly to 11 kg a year while that of Malaysia has risen to 36 liters.          Therefore, the government continues to make efforts to increase the people's average milk consumption rate, among others by raising the people's awareness of the benefit of consuming milk through celebrating the Nusantara Milk Day.         The Nusantara Milk Day was on Saturday observed in Semarang, Central Java, where the function carried a theme: "A Glass of Fresh Milk Per Day," he said.         Through the observance of the Indonesian milk day, the people are expected to raise their awareness of the benefit and the need to consume milk. But for this, efforts must be supported by increased local milk production, as so far the country still imports most of its need.          Minister Suswono said that about 70 percent of the country's need for milk was still imported while the domestic national milk production could only meet 30 percent of the people's need.          The minister said that due to its condition, the country's milk production was not yet able to meet the people's need for milk  because the milk production business at home was still done in small scale.         "We also need to improve the country's milk production management, such as the need to improve the hygiene aspect and its originality," the minister said.          Since in the past several years, Indonesian milk production has not yet increased significantly. Indonesian fresh milk production remained stagnant in 2007 at 1.2 million liters per day and could only meet 25 percent of overall Indonesian milk demand.          The gap was fulfilled from imports. Despite the soaring price of non fat dry milk as well as whole milk powder in the international market, imports of non fat dry milk are forecast to continue growing as demand remained firm.          According to a ministry of agriculture official, Indonesia still had to import 76.5 percent of its milk need in 2009 as domestic production could only meet 23.45 per cent of the need.          Local milch-cow farmers produced some 1.3 million to 1.4 million liters of milk per day, of which 97 percent were supplied to domestic milk processing industries.          Economic and cooperative observer Sri Edi Swasono said the government should provide a subsidy for about 120,000 local milk producers in Java, and give them the needed facilities so that domestic milk producers and industries would develop well.          Thousands of milk producers are grouped in about 95 centers of cooperatives units under the Indonesian Milk Cooperatives Movement.          Based on data quoted by the online media the CattleSite.com, Indonesian milk production is sourced from around 320,000 cattle largely located in three milk-producing areas in Java.          West Java's dairy cooperatives used to produce the highest amount of milk, but the position was taken over by East Java's dairy cooperatives in 2004 when the price of beef skyrocketed so that farmers received more from culling their dairy cattle for beef versus looking after the cattle for milk.          By 2007, West Java's dairy cooperative produces approximately 400,000 liters of milk per day while East Java produces 600,000 liters of milk per day. The balance is produced by Central Java and other parts of Indonesia.          In order to boost local milk production,  Central Java Governor Bibit Waluyo suggested on Saturday that milk imports from other countries should be reduced  but imports of milch cows must be increased, young cows.         "About 70 percent of the national need for milk is imported while another 30 percent are met by locally produced milk," the governor said.         He said that the big volumes of imported milk had caused local milch cow breeders to face difficulties in developing their business because imported milk put on the market usually had better quality and cheaper price.***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/20:10/a014) 06-06-2011 20:12:

AUSTRALIA SUSPENDS LIVESTOCK EXPORTS TO INDONESIA

By Andi Adussalam

Jakarta, June 4 (ANTARA) - Australia which last year shipped  $300 million worth of livestock to Indonesia, may have decided to suspend the exports in an effort to bolster the volume of its frozen meat exports to its Southeast Asian neighbor.          "It would be more profitable for Australia to export meat rather than slaughter cows to Indonesia," Agriculture analyst Bustanul Arifin said on Friday in response to reports that Australia has threatened to stop its slaughter cattle exports to Indonesia.          He said that with meat exports Australia would be able to gain more profit than the one it could reap if it sold slaughter cows to Indonesia.  According to ABC news on Tuesday, Indonesia is Australia's key market for live cattle exports, taking 60 per cent of all cattle, and in 2010, the trade was worth more than $300 million.          Since the trade began 20 years ago, more than 6.5 million cattle have been shipped to Indonesia for slaughter. The Australian livestock export industry and the Australian Government have invested more than $4 million into improving animal welfare in Indonesia over the past 10 years.          However, reports have it this week that Australia had threatened to stop shipping cows to abattoirs in Indonesia after a document revealed that abattoirs had committed cruelty against the animals sent there for slaughter.          The footage aired on ABC1's Four Corners early this week showed the animals were kicked, thrashed and beaten, their throats were hacked at, eyes gouged and tails were broken.          Australia's export agency LiveCorp has taken the decision to stop exporting cattle to Indonesia after it was given footage of animal cruelty by animal rights campaigners.          LiveCorp CEO Cameron Hall said cruelty to Australian animals was simply unacceptable and the industry won't tolerate it. He described the footage as graphic and distressing, and frustrating for the industry.          The move came ahead of an investigative feature, which included the film from Indonesia, on the ABC's Four Corners on Monday night.           Nswpolicecrime.com online media quoted the analysis on the footage by Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) chief scientist Bidda Jones that some animals showed signs of consciousness when they were dismembered.          In March this year, animal welfare campaigners 'Animals Australia' filmed in 11 randomly chosen abattoirs in Indonesia and provided the footage to Four Corners. More than a month later, a Four Corners team went to Indonesia and filmed in abattoirs where cattle suffered prolonged and painful deaths.          However, Bustanul Arifin who is also a professor at the Lampung State University said the Australian decision to stop live cattle exports because of cruelty reason to the animals had trade motivation to boost Australia's meat trade to Indonesia.          Besides having higher added value if exported in the form of meat, the Indonesian government could also face difficulties to control the edibility of the meat if the live stocks are slaughtered there.          "After all, Indonesia is now launching a self-sufficiency program to increase its production at home in 2014," he said.          In 2011, the agriculture ministry has allocation for the importation of 50,000 tons of meat, far below that in 2010 which was 120,000 tons. Indonesia imports meat from Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada.          In the mealtime, Agriculture Minister Suswono said Indonesia was planning to reduced its cattle imports to only 10 percent of its need by 2014. "Indonesia has set itself a target to import only 10 percent in 2014. Based on the international standard, Indonesia would already be self-sufficient if it is able to reduce its imports to only 10 percent," he said.          Regardless of this, he said, Australia, which exported some 600,000 head of cows annually to Indonesia, still needed the Indonesian market for its cattle  and to this effect both nations ahead must nurture better cooperation.          "We believed that Australia still needs the Indonesian market because Indonesia so far has been a destination country for cattle exports," he said. Indonesia imports meat from Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada.          The minister said it was Australia's rights to judge whether or not there was cruelty to slaughter cows at Indonesian abattoirs and whether or not it would stop its exports to the country.       After all, Indonesia is now trying to reduce its cattle imports through developing its cattle project and to increase the population of its cattle at home.          "We are not concerned with the threat of Australia to stop its cow exports to Indonesia because we can import the cattle from other countries. After all, we hope that the result of the census would guarantee our steps in increasing the local cattle population," the minister said.          The Indonesian government is launching an inventory on the population of its cows and buffaloes to know the volumes of its need for imported meat in the future.       "We hope that with the cow population census, we will obtain valid picture and data. So far we have data showing that the population of cattle in Indonesia reached 12.6 million," he said.***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/19:10/a014) (T.A014/A/A014/A/A014) 04-06-2011 19:11:

SAUDI ARABIA TO PROTECT RI MIGRANT WORKERS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, June 2 (ANTARA) - For as long as 40 years, Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia had been running the risk of experiencing  all sorts of unexpected difficulties ranging from maltreatment by employers to brushes with the law because of the absence of a legal umbrella regulating their presence in the Middle Eastern country.          But this situation is soon to change for the better with the conclusion of  an agreement between  the Indonesian and Saudi governments  to improve their services for placement  and protection of Indonesian workers in that country. The agreement was reached at a Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) between Saudi Arabia and Indonesia held in Jedda over the weekend.         "Thank God, we have signed a statement of intent toward the signing of an MoU with Indonesia," Saudi Arabian Manpower Minister Adel Mohammad Fakeih said after attending the meeting.          Fakeih said the two countries needed to sign the MoU as a legal umbrella for the placement and protection of about 1.5 million Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia. The statement of intent  is expected to be followed by the signing of an MoU by both governments within the coming six months.          The statement of intent was signed between Moh Jumhur Hidayat, head of the National Agency for Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers Overseas (BNP2TKI), in his capacity the Indonesian chief delegate to the SOM, and  Adel Mohammad Fakeih who head the Saudi delegation.          "The agreement would lead to  maximal protection of the Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia," Jumhur said.          Through the Statement of Intent, both sides agreed the establishment of a joint working committee to formulate a memorandum of understanding that would be signed between Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.          He said that the placement of Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia now would enter a new phase of good protection and respectable services as the supervision of both countries would be involved under the MoU as a legal umbrella.          According to Jumhur, the letter of intent contains a number of matters relating to the arrangement, placement and protection of Indonesian workers so that they would be able to work comfortably and securely with protection.          After all, Jumhur said,  Adel Muhammad Fakieh has assured that the MoU was needed as a legal umbrella in settling various TKI problems, while at the same time it served as a protection scheme for about 1.5 million TKIs working in Saudi Arabia.          Based on the statement of intent, the placement and protection of TKIs included efforts to respect workers' dignity with the provision of an insurance program, health, legal counseling and an interpreter team when they are facing various problems and disputes.          "Ahead, Indonesia wants TKIs to work in Saudi Arabia securely and comfortably in accordance with their desires, " Jumhur said.          He said that over the past 40 years of Indonesian workers' placement in Saudi Arabia, both countries had never yet made any joint statement of intent or commitment to produce an MoU because so far Saudi Arabia had never made any agreement with any worker exporting countries.          "So this is the first agreement reached during the SOM of both nations in Jedda aimed at the eventual signing of an MoU between the two," Jumhur said.          He said that the Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia   had brought many advantages to Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. But so far they had faced many problems. Therefore, the SOM is a historic meeting because it constituted the first of its kind ever held over the past 40 years.          Before the SOM was held Manpower Minister Muhaimin Iskandar expressed hope that the SOM would produce maximal results.       "The Saudi minister of manpower understands Indonesia well so that we should be able to convey our desires as well as possible," Minister Muhaimin said when he held a meeting with Moh Jumhur Hidyat.          The minister expected that the meeting would result in an agreement to improve placement services, protection and employment contracts of TKIs and other things such as the availability of complete information on the employers, better access to communication, insurance protection and accommodation.          Of the 1.5 million TKIs in Saudi Arabia, about 650 thousands are estimated to have been staying in accredited areas of the Indonesian Consul General in Jedda, and some 800 thousands others are in the Indonesian Embassy's accredited areas in Riyadh.          Indonesia and Saudi Arabia have also faced problems with the big number of Indonesian migrant workers overstaying their visas.          Initially, overstayers were those of problematic workers who fled their employers' homes  to various boarding facilities partly because they were not paid, treated inhumanely, had heavy workloads, worked not based on their contracts, had sexual harassment, had been abused, were not competent in work and  faced cultural shock.          But some other overstayers have also been visitors who come to Saudi Arabia to perform a minor haj pilgrimage or umroh.          An estimate has put the number of Indonesian oversayers in Saudi Arabia at 50,000. The government had planned to help some 25,000 return home this year for lack of funds while the remaining 25,000 will still have to stay there until they see what the government will do with them.          Until last March, 2,073 of the planned 25,000 have been facilitated to return home, and early in May, the government returned again 2,349 overstayers. The MV Labobar, a ship carrying the 2,349 migrant workers  from Jidda, Saudi Arabia, arrived at Jakarta's Tanjung Priok seaport in the first week of May 2011.***4*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/18:10/a014) 02-06-2011 19:37:

RI'S PROCESSED COCOA EXPORTS INCREASING

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, May 31 (ANTARA) - Indonesia's overall cocoa exports are predicted to drop by about 12.5 percent this year, but its processed cocoa shipment to overseas markets has increased, which this year is expected to reach 40 percent of the total cocoa exports.          So far, most of Indonesia's cocoa products, or about 80 percent, are exported in the form of beans. However, the government has since April last year slapped a 15 percent tax on cocoa bean exports to encourage local factories to produce and increase exports of processed cocoa products.          Fermented cocoa beans producers said that Indonesia could increase the added value of its cocoa products by about Rp2000 (about US$0.23) per kg if exported in the form processed goods.          "It can be imagined if Indonesia's annual output reaches up to 500,000 tons. This means that there are about five hundred million kg of cocoa beans which lose Rp2000 per kg, or a total of about Rp1 trillion. This is farmers' money," Syamsuddin Said of the Indonesian Fermented Cocoa Beans Association, once said.          It is expected that this year cocoa exports from Indonesia, the world's third largest cocoa producer after the Ivory Coast and Ghana, will be between 280,000 ton and 300,000 tons, down from 320,000 tons in 2010, Zulhefi Sikumbang, chairman of an association known as Askindo, was quoted as saying recently by Reuters.          Askindo has predicted that the Indonesian production will be flat at about 600,000 tons this year, as increased output from new planting offsets the impact of heavy rains. Although its overall exports are declining over rise in domestic consumption, yet its processed ones on the rice.          This year, Indonesia's processed cocoa exports are expected to reach 40 percent of its overall types of cocoa exports. "Usually, Indonesia's processed cocoa exports only accounted for 20 percent of its overall cocoa exports. This year, its processed cocoa exports could reach 280,000 tons, or about 40 percent of its overall cocoa product exports," Piter Jasman, chairman of the Indonesian Cocoa Industry Association (AIKI) said  on Tuesday.           He said that processed cocoa exports had increased on the imposition of tax on cocoa bean exports so that raw material supply to local cocoa factories was ensured. "With guaranteed supply, we can produce more. After all, the government does withdraw any tax on processed cocoa exports," he said.          The values of Indonesia's cocoa exports in 2009 and 2010 were respectively recorded at US$1.41 billion and US$1.64 billion.          He said that with guaranteed cocoa beans supply at home cocoa factories were optimistic that they were able to increase production and raise processed cocoa contribution to the country's overall cocoa exports by 50 percent.          This is in line with the government's aim in imposing a 15 percent tax on cocoa bean exports, namely to bolster local processing industry and increase the added value of farmers cacao production.          About 93 percent of Indonesia's 1.5 million hectares of cocoa plantations are owned by smallholders.          "We are able to increase the contribution of processed cocoa products to the overall exports thanks to the export tax. This has guaranteed cocoa bean supply for local industries so they could increase their production. After all, processed cocoa exports are subjected to tax ," Piter Jasman said.          Data at the trade ministry showed an upward trend in the contribution of processed cocoa products to the overall national cocoa exports. Indonesia's cocoa paste and butter contribution to the overall cocoa exports increased from 17.71 percent in 2009 to 18.43 percent in 2010.          In this case, the values of Indonesia's overall cocoa exports in 2009 and 2010 were respectively recorded at US$1.41 billion and US$1.64 billion.          The contribution of cocoa paste and cocoa butter products to the overall cocoa exports in the January-February 2011 period reached 21.21 percent of the overall values of US$219.05 million.          In the same period in 2009, the contribution of cocoa paste and butter to the overall exports were only 15.56 percent of the overall export values of US$253.60 million.          The contribution of cocoa powder and cocoa bar exports also increased, which in 2009 was only recorded at 5.30 percent but in 2010 it rose to 9.08 percent.       In the January - February 2011 period the contribution of cocoa powder and cocoa bar exports to the overall cocoa exports was relatively high reaching 11.91 percent. In the same period in 2009, the exports of cocoa powder and cocoa bar products only accounted for 7.69 percent.          In the meantime, the contribution of Indonesia's cocoa beans and cocoa nut shell exports since 2010 has been showing a downward trend.          In 2010, the values of cocoa beans and cocoa nut shell exports were valued at US$1.19 billion, or 72.49 percent of the total export values which reached US$1.64 billion.          The contribution of cocoa beans and cocoa nut shell exports in that period was lower than their previous contribution which accounted for 76.98 percent of the total cocoa exports valued at US$1.41 billion in 2009.           The share of the cocoa beans and cocoa nut shell exports in the overall cocoa exports in the January - February 2011 period was recorded at 66.88 percent.          This figure was smaller if compared with the contribution of these two types of cocoa exports in the same period in 2009 which was 76.75 percent. ***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/20:55/a014) 31-05-2011 21:11:4

EDUCATION NEEDS RESHAPING TO MEET EMPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, May 30 (ANTARA) - Unemployment problem in the country is not always caused by shortage of work fields but also by lack of human resources quality.  Even, many university graduates are often forced to pass a transitional period before they could get employment.          Referring to this condition, former minister for education and culture Wardiman Djojonegoro said the education system in Indonesia had not yet matched the work field. "We have to design an education system which has a link and match with employment so that graduates would be absorbed easily by the work field," Wardiman said recently.          The high unemployment rate in Indonesia requires decision makers in the education field to reshape the education system and adjust it to the need of employment. One of the main problems faced by the government is to reduce unemployment and poverty rates.          Based on data at the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) there is now a total of 8.1 million unemployed people. Most of them are within the productive age between 20 and 40 years.          This is because, according to Wardiman, the pattern of education in Indonesia is not yet 'friendly' with the work field. "Up to now there are still many education problems which remain unresolved, " the former minister said.

FORMER DEMOCRAT TREASURER FLEEING OR PAYING REGULAR VISIT TO S'PORE?

by Andi Adussalam

Jakarta, May 27 (ANTARA) - Sacked ruling Democratic Party PDP treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin is now in Singapore, a neighboring country he has always visited so far.          This time he visited Singapore only one day before a travel ban was issued on him, or several hours before the PD's Council of Ethics announced his dismissal as the the party's general treasurer.          The ethic council made the announcement only two days after Constitutional Court Chairman (MK) Muhfud MD reported to PD Chief Patron Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that Nazaruddin had tried to provide gratification money for the MK.          The money amounted to US$120 thousands was to be given to the KM through its secretary general Janedjri M Gaffar in September 2010.          Before his attempt to extend gratification money to the MK came to light, Nazaruddin had also been mentioned as having involved in an alleged bribery case in the construction of a SEA Games athlete house in Palembang, South Sumatra.          This began when the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested Wafid Muharram, a secretary to the minister for youth and sports affairs at his office on April 21, 2011. When arrested, Wafid was receiving Marketing Director of PT Anak Negeri, Mindo Rosalina Manulang, and Marketing Director of PT Duata Graha Indah, Muhammad El Idris.          When she was grilled by the KPK, Rosalina Manulang said she was a subordinate of Muhammad Nazaruddin, general treasurer of the Democrat Party. Since then, Nazaruddin was suspected to have link with the alleged bribery case, though a week later; Rosalina changed her statement, saying she did not know Nazaruddin.          Amid these two cases, namely alleged gratification and bribery in the South Sumatra project, it was suddenly reported that Nazaruddin was in Singapore, which sparked speculation he was fleeing to the neighboring country.          "Nazaruddin left the country before he was banned to go abroad. He often goes to Singapore so he should not be punished for having seemingly fled to another country," Law and Human Rights Minister  Patrialis Akbar said  on Friday.          Patrialis said  Nazaruddin had often traveled to Singapore so that one should directly accuse him of fleeing, even if he had left before his travel ban was issued.          The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) last Tuesday evening asked for a travel ban on three people, namely Octarina Furi, Yulianis and M Nazaruddin. However, Nazaruddin  left for Singapore on Monday night (May 23), one day before the ban was issued.          According to Ruhut Sitompul, a lawmaker of the Democrat Party, Nazaruddin, he himself a legislator of the PD, did not flee but went to Singapore under the consent of PD faction in the House of Representatives (DPR).          Nazaruddin obtained permission from the leader of the Democratic Party (PD) faction in the  DPR before flying off  to Singapore,  Ruhut Sitompul said.          "Nazaruddin  obtained permission from the DPR faction leader. He had duly asked for prior permission," Ruhut said when contacted through his cellular phone here on Friday.          He said that Nazaruddin left for Singapore for medical treatment purposes and before he left he had submitted a letter of request to the chairman of the Democrat Party faction in the House.          Ruhut even regretted the statement of PD elite as if Nazaruddin had fled to Singapore. However, many senior PD members denied any knowledge of Muhammad Nazaruddin's  departure  to Singapore a day before the issuance of a travel ban on him.          "I do not know. Whereto he fled, I do not know," member of the party's advisory board, EE Mangindaan, said when asked for his confirmation about it at the Presidential Palace. The advisory board as an ethics council fired Nararuddin from his post as party treasurer on Monday.          "I am a member of the ethics council. I have nothing to do with where he would go. That is not my affair," he said.          Another advisory board member Jero Wacik also said that he did not know about Nazeruddin's sudden exit from Indonesia. "I do not know. That is not my affair. I am an ethics council member. My affairs concern party's ethics. That is all," he said.          Jero Wacik said if Nazaruddin had fled and wished to flee that was  the affair of the law enforcement agencies. Therefore, he must come home.          In order to enable the KPK to investigate him, the former PD treasurer has to return home, or at least to prove that he was not fleeing abroad.          In this case, Golkar Party chief adviser Akbar Tanjung hoped that the  PD  would call him home.  "I think the Democrat Party would contact and ask him to go home because he would be investigated," Akbar said on the sidelines of a public discussion on political parties and democracy consolidation on Friday.          On alleged involvement of Nazaruddin in a bribery case, Akbar said he would trust the Corruption Eradication Commission   to investigate it.  "We should leave it to the legal process. To assure whether or not he is involved in a corruption case, we have a legal institution which could do it," he said.          He said that in terms of his institution, the Democrat Party of course already saw and prepared necessary steps it would take against Nazarudin. "The man has been fired as the general treasurer of the DP. This also shows that PD also took into account the public attention because it considered the matter could create bad image of the party," Akbar said.          Moreover, according to Akbar, allegations against the PD cadre should proven in court, and that it should be given to the KPK to investigate it.          As Nazaruddin is said to have fled to Singapore, the KPK is not yet able to summon him, though it has planned to interrogate him as a witness next week.      "Actually, the KPK has not yet set a date for the summoning of Nazaruddin, but it has determined to question him next week," KPK spokesman Johan Budi said.         Therefore, Nazaruddin must come home, Akbar said.***3*** (T.A014/A/H-NG/A/S012) 27-05-2011 23:59:

PRODUCERS CONCERNED OVER FALL OF SUGAR PRICE

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, May 25 (ANTARA) - Producers have expressed concern over the entry into the retail market of imported refined sugar and the downward trend of crystal white sugar price since last month which, they said could disadvantage sugar cane farmers.          "We are concerned over the declining sugar price; if this continues to take place, we are afraid we would not be able to cover production cost. After all, the government has set a benchmark price for farmers at Rp7000 per kg," Djoko Santoso, secretary of state-owned sugar cane plantation company PTPN X, said.          PTPN X has set itself the target of producing 500 thousand tons of sugar this year, a target which was higher than that in the previous year at 410 thousand tons. It would do its best to optimize the capacity of its factory and increase production efficiency in an effort to achieve the target.         "We will optimize the existing capacity, replace ineffective equipment, increase the factory performance and economize energy consumption," he said.          PTPN X is still able to increase its crystal while sugar production if the government allows it to import raw sugar to be processed into crystal sugar by its remaining idle factory capacity.          This year it has asked permit for the importation of 50 thousand tons of raw sugar to be processed into about 45 thousand tons of crystal white sugar.          However, the company's optimism to increase its production is overshadowed by fear of possible price fall of crystal sugar in the domestic market. Since the beginning of the milling season, in late April and early this month, the sugar price in the retail market has been showing a downward trend.       The average national sugar price in April was Rp10,832 per kg. It dropped to Rp10,730 per kg in the first week of May and Rp10,714 per kg in the second week.  Yet, at present the price is still higher than that in the same period a year earlier which was Rp10,443 per kg in April and Rp10,234 per kg in May.         Djoko said that his company was afraid it would be unable to cover its production cost if prices continued to fall, while the government has set the benchmark price at Rp7000 per kg at the farmer level.          Based on the trade minister's decree, this year the benchmark price at the farmers' level is set at Rp7000 per kg, much higher than the previous year's benchmark at Rp6,350 per kg.  The Rp7,000 benchmark price is effective as of May 4, 2011.          The benchmark price was set by taking into account the proposal of the agriculture minister who is also the chairman of the Indonesian Sugar Council (DGI).          Director General for Internal Trade Gunaryo said that the government set the benchmark price as a reference for the purchase of the farmers' crystal while sugar to ensure that farmers would get reasonable profit and consumers would buy it with a reasonable price.          Expert staff of the Indonesian Sugar Association, Colosewoko said the government should take into account the interest of farmers as producers and of consumers in setting the benchmark price.          "Producers want to cover their production cost and get a reasonable profit while consumers are willing to buy sugar with prices within their financial reaches. Thus, the government should accommodate these two interests by setting a fair level of prices," Colosewoko said.          As regards, the price in the retail market should not fall to a too low level which could cause producers to be unable to cover their production cost.          However the downward trend in the sugar price in the retail market has created concern for producer. After all, imported refined sugar was believed to have entered consumption market which could disturb local sugar products.          Earlier, Chairman of the Indonesian Canesugar Farmers Association (APTRI) Arum Sabil said his side had found refined sugar circulating in the consumption market.         "The circulation of refined sugar for industries in the retail market disturbs farmers' sugar because it is sold at a lower price. We urge that the circulation of refined sugar should be put in order based on regulations," Chairman of the Indonesian Canesugar Farmers Association (APTRI) Arum Sabil said.          He said this could have happened because production of refined sugar exceeded the need of food and drink industries. The remaining then entered the consumption market.          Therefore, the government has called on refined sugar producers to discipline themselves and supply refined sugar only to food and beverage industries in accordance with  existing regulations so as  not to disrupt the  crystal or consumer sugar market.          "We have summoned eight refined sugar producers and asked them to call themselves to order so that no refined sugar will enter the consumer sugar market," Director General for Internal Trade Affairs Gunaryo said.          The government has also asked the producers to assign clear distributors, sub-distributors and to popularize regulations to them. "We ask them to assign clear distributors where each of the distributors is required to sign an integrity pact to make sure that there would be no refined sugar leaked to the retail market," the director general said.          He said that the government would also reinforce the integrated goods monitoring team in supervising the distribution of refined sugar to foods and beverage industries.          Secretary General of the Indonesian Refined Sugar Association (AGRI) Suryo Alam said his side was ready to help monitor the distribution of the refined sugar.          This year, he said, the government allowed the importation of 2.4 million tons which after a process would only amount to about 2.2 million tons. The need for refined sugar of industry this year is estimated at between 2.2 million and 2.3 million tons.          So, Suryo said, it is unlikely for refined sugar to enter the retail market because the government only allowed the importation of raw sugar based on the volume needed by industries.***5*** (T.A014/ A/H-NG/A014) 25-05-2011 12:35:4