Aircraft-for-sticky rice deal sparks controversy

JAKARTA (JP): The plan to trade locally-built aircraft with Thai glutinous rice was questioned by a House member from the Armed Forces and backed by government legislators yesterday.

Oedijanto from the Armed Forces faction in the House of Representatives said what Indonesia needs is regular rice for daily consumption, not the glutinous rice commonly served as a snack.

"To swap aircraft with sugar as initially planned sounds better...but with glutinous rice? It doesn't sound good," said the deputy ABRI faction chairman at the House.

Thai and Indonesian officials signed a memorandum of understanding on the barter deal here yesterday. Under the agreement, Indonesia will deliver two CN-235 aircraft for 110,000 tons of glutinous rice from Thailand.

The commuter planes were built by Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara, Bandung.

"Indonesia doesn't have a shortage of glutinous rice because it is not a staple food. Can't we barter the aircraft with another commodity?" he said.

Oedijanto suggested that Indonesia try again and barter the aircraft for sugar or cement, of which Indonesia cannot produce enough.

Legislator Tadjoedin Noersaid said he basically backed the plane-for-glutinous rice scheme but insisted that the government explain the plan's background to the public.

The House member from the ruling Golkar party argued that a frank explanation is needed so that people do not consider the scheme odd.

"People are itching to ask why Indonesia, as a well-known rice producer, swaps high-technology aircraft with merely glutinous rice," Tadjoedin said.

Tadjoedin said the barter deal is a good idea because Indonesia can buy the vital commodity without wasting foreign exchange.

"The real question is does Indonesia really need glutinous rice, or is it simply because it wants to see its aircraft sold for anything at all?" he said.

Meanwhile, legislator Moestahid Astari -- chief of the Golkar faction in the House, said he fully backed the barter scheme because it would help Indonesia reduce its current account deficit.

"We should dump all negative presumption about the scheme. I am sure the government carefully weighed up what the country needs before it decided to go ahead with the plan," he said.

He maintained Golkar has, from the outset, backed such a barter system as a way to suppress the current deficit. (pan)