East Java salt farmers suffer as prices plummet<\/p>\n
I.D. Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya<\/p>\n
Thousands of salt farmers in Sampang, Sumenep and Pamekasan
\nregencies on Madura Island, East Java province, are facing a
\ncrisis due to the falling price of salt, in some cases by 50
\npercent.<\/p>\n
Aside from the poor quality of the commodity, the influx of
\nimported salt has been blamed for plummeting prices.<\/p>\n
Muhammad Toha, a salt farmer in Sumenep, for instance, was
\nforced to sell his prime quality salt for Rp 100,000 (US$11) per
\nton.<\/p>\n
Prime quality salt from Madura sold previously at Rp 200,000
\nto Rp 250,000 per ton, while lower grade salt was Rp 75,000 per
\nton.<\/p>\n
Farmers have been powerless to negotiate a better price for
\ntheir salt.<\/p>\n
\"If I don't sell it, my family cannot eat,\" Toha told The
\nJakarta Post recently, although it was barely enough to cover
\nproduction costs.<\/p>\n
Ihsan, a salt farmer in Sampang, is facing the same plight. He
\nadmitted suffering huge losses due to the drastic drop in price
\nand demand, especially during the harvest period from July to
\nDecember.<\/p>\n
Toha's and Ihsan's experience is not isolated, and is shared
\nby 8,000 other salt farmers grouped in the Madura Salt Farmers
\nAssociation.<\/p>\n
The association took the initiative to uncover the cause
\nbehind the drop, and found that their plight was caused by
\nimported salt flooding the market on Madura.<\/p>\n
\"Imported salt was the culprit behind the price drop,\" Ihsan
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
In the past two weeks, farmers have come across two salt
\nfreighters anchoring in Tanjung Perak Port, Surabaya.<\/p>\n
The first ship was carrying 21,000 tons of salt and the
\nsecond, 24,000 tons.<\/p>\n
\"The two ships, the Kiwi and the Pakerin ... were transporting
\nsalt from Australia,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The activity is in direct violation of the Minister of
\nIndustry and Trade Decree No. 360\/2004, which prohibits the
\nimportation of salt during the July-December harvest period.<\/p>\n
\"But what is happening is that salt is being imported freely,\"
\nsaid Ihsan.<\/p>\n
The imported salt is being handled at a higher standard than
\nlocal salt, and it has been reported that the salt onboard are
\npackaged in plastic bags and stamped Garindo, or Garam Indonesia
\n(Indonesian salt).<\/p>\n
The commodity is taken to warehouses in nearby Margorejo and
\nGresik to be sold to markets discreetly.<\/p>\n
Madura salt farmers have also blamed PT Garam Kalianget for
\nits part in contributing to falling prices.<\/p>\n
Although a member of the salt producers association, PT Garam
\nKalianget had sold their products at lower prices to processing
\nmills like PT Garinso Sejahtera Abadi and PT Budiono, thus
\nlowering demand for products from local farmers.<\/p>\n
PT Garam Kalianget managing director Leo Pramuka refuted the
\nallegation, saying the price drop was caused by market mechanisms
\nthat had not sided with farmers.<\/p>\n
In other words, salt produced by farmers were simply not in
\ndemand, and the people obviously preferred imported salt, which
\nwas more hygienic.<\/p>\n
\"What's made matters worse is, farmers' production costs keep
\nrising while the sale price is low, as there is little demand for
\nlocal salt,\" said Leo.<\/p>\n
The trade ministry has stopped the importation of salt in
\nhopes that local salt would be absorbed by the market gradually.<\/p>\n
However, that hope is still far from reality, as salt
\ncontinues to penetrate the market unchecked.<\/p>\n
\"I heard that imported salt had entered (recently) by way of
\nTanjung Perak Port. This is strange, because importers must have
\nan official license (from the government),\" Leo said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/east-java-salt-farmers-suffer-as-prices-plummet-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}