Poor quality rice sold to the poor<\/p>\n
By Emanuelle Anastashya<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): To some people, quality matters. Even when you
\nare in a condition that does not allow you to be selective.<\/p>\n
Suparlan, a pedicab driver with three children, is not
\ninterested in the \"cheap rice\" sold in the market operation in
\nhis neighborhood in Manggarai, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"Although I have no means to be arrogant, I still don't buy
\nthe rice,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"The quality of the rice is bad. It almost doesn't taste like
\nrice and it also smells odd,\" said Suparlan, who shares a four-
\nsquare-meter room with his family.<\/p>\n
He was referring to the rice offered in a program, which was
\nlaunched in April 1999 by the World Food Program (WFP) in
\ncollaboration with a number of local non-governmental
\norganizations (NGOs), called Operasi Pasar Swadaya Masyarakat
\n(OPSM, a non-governmental market operation). Under the program,
\ndisadvantaged families can buy rice at Rp 1,000 per kilogram, 50
\npercent cheaper than the market price.<\/p>\n
However, each household is only allowed to purchase five
\nkilograms a week.<\/p>\n
The government has also launched nationwide a similar program
\ncalled the Special Market Operation (OPK) since July last year.<\/p>\n
Suparlan said he once tasted the rice bought by his neighbor
\nin the market operation, and he did not like it.<\/p>\n
\"That's why every week when they come here to sell the rice, I
\njust stand around and watch the crowd,\" Suparlan said.<\/p>\n
Another resident, Yusup, 41, who sells coconut at a nearby
\nmarket, also grumbled about the quality of the rice, but bought
\nit anyway.<\/p>\n
\"The rice is bad, but that's OK. We can use the money saved to
\npurchase our other needs,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"We usually mix it with the rice that we buy at Rp 2,000 per
\nkg. It's more palatable that way,\" his wife Dedah, 28, added.<\/p>\n
In the distribution of the cheap rice, WFP is assisted by 15
\nlocal NGOs, such as the Youth Ending Hunger Indonesia (YEH),
\nZaitun and Kekal.<\/p>\n
According to WFP, there are 1,250 distribution points, and all
\nare located in the slum areas of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Once a week, representatives from the local NGOs will visit
\nthe distribution points and sell the rice to the communities.<\/p>\n
\"They come here once a week,\" said Karsinah, a resident of
\nJanis village in North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Karsinah's makeshift food stall at the side of a railroad has
\nbeen used as a distribution point for the past six months.<\/p>\n
Asiah, a mother of four, is grateful for the program, yet she
\nhopes to get better quality rice.<\/p>\n
\"I'm happy with the program, but it would be nicer if we could
\nhave better quality rice,\" she said.<\/p>\n
According to WFP, those entitled to buy the rice are people
\nwho are too poor to consume even 300 grams of rice per day or
\nprotein-rich food at least once a week, pay the school fees for
\ntheir children's primary school education or afford medical
\ntreatment at public health centers.<\/p>\n
These conditions are printed at the back of the food card
\ndistributed by WFP to the families.<\/p>\n
Families must produce the card when purchasing the rice.<\/p>\n
\"The card is to ensure that each family only purchases five
\nkilograms of rice as ruled,\" Alamsyah, the chief of community
\nunit four in Manggarai, South Jakarta, told the Post.<\/p>\n
Community unit four is the area in Manggarai with the most
\nnumber of urban poor residents, Alamsyah said.<\/p>\n
\"People here are grateful for the program. We can save some
\nmoney for other purposes,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Each week, YEH sells as much as 20 sacks of rice in the area.<\/p>\n
\"From the 850 families, there are about 400 families assisted
\neach week,\" Alamsyah said.<\/p>\n
WFP acknowledges that the major constraint of the OPSM is the
\nlimited experience of the local NGOs and \"in some occasions\" the
\nrelatively low quality of the in-kind rice donations.<\/p>\n
Aside from the in-kind rice donations provided by countries
\nsuch as the United States, Japan, Australia, Germany and the
\nNetherlands, WFP also receives cash contributions.<\/p>\n
\"When we receive cash contributions, we purchase and ship the
\nrice from Thailand or Vietnam,\" Inge Breuer, WFP's program
\nadvisor told the Post.<\/p>\n
\"We tried twice to purchase the rice from Indonesia, but the
\nsupplier failed to deliver them on time,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Wardah Hafidz, coordinator of the Urban Poor
\nConsortium (UPC), says the discounted rice must come from
\nIndonesian rice farmers as the current method used by WFP will
\ndisrupt the local rice market.<\/p>\n
\"Of course the urban poor are grateful for the discounted
\nrice, but in the long term our rice farmers will be disadvantaged
\nif WFP continues to purchase and sell rice in a large scale from
\nabroad,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"Unless WFP purchases the discounted rice from local farmers,
\nit is better it stops the program,\" she added.<\/p>",
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