Cheap rice being stolen: Dolog chief

Cheap rice being stolen: Dolog chief

JAKARTA: The head of the provincial logistics agency (Dolog
Jaya), Hary Syahdan, confirmed last Saturday reports that
subsidized rice for the poor had been stolen.

Hary said officials at the subdistrict or district levels were
stealing some of the rice during distribution, dismissing the
possibility that discrepancies in the subsidized rice program
resulted from mistakes by Dolog Jaya officials during the
weighing of the rice.

Dolog Jaya is responsible for the distribution of subsidized
rice to poor communities across the capital. The program is part
of the central government's efforts to offset the impact on the
poor of the withdrawal of the fuel subsidy.

Under the subsidized rice program, poor families are allowed
to buy 20 kilograms of rice per month for Rp 1,000 per kilogram
(11 US cents), compared to the market price of Rp 2,800 per
kilogram.

But according to reports, a number of poor families, such as
those in Muara Angke, North Jakarta, have only been give 19.5
kilograms of rice. And some families in places such as Klender,
East Jakarta, have not received any rice under the program.--JP