Civil servants protest bad rice

CILACAP, Central Java: Hundreds of civil servants here protested on Wednesday the Banyumas Logistics Agency (Dolog) for distributing overpriced, bad rice.

The quality of the rice was very poor and it was priced at Rp 2,645 per kilogram instead of the official Rp 1,300 per kilogram, the protesters said, adding that the majority of the civil servants resold the rice because it tasted awful.

"It's outrageous. In this holy fasting month we are provided with putrid rice. We want to be given cash instead of bad rice," said Muribut, a civil servant in Purwokerto.

The Dolog deputy chief in Banyumas, Karimun, denied his office distributed low-quality rice.

"We would not do that. Well, the rice looks yellow but it's not rotten. It's also impossible for us to replace the rice with money because it is not in our authority to do so," Karimun said. (45/edt)