Efficiency of rice distribution system questioned
Efficiency of rice distribution system questioned
JAKARTA (JP): A city councilor questioned the efficiency of
the capital's rice distribution system on Monday as prices
continued to skyrocket despite a reportedly ample amount of rice
in stock.
Djafar Badjeber, head of the council's Commission B for
economic affairs, complained that prices continued to rise even
though the city's branch of the State Logistics Agency (Dolog
Jaya) was supplying about 5,000 metric tons of rice a day through
market operations -- more than twice the city's estimated daily
consumer demand of about 2,250 tons.
"There must be something wrong in the distribution system if
the prices cannot be controlled. Dolog Jaya must implement a
tight control system to prevent speculators from selling rice
they take from Dolog at higher prices to make huge profits," he
told reporters when visiting Dolog Jaya's warehouse in Kelapa
Gading, North Jakarta, on Monday.
He also said there was a possibility that rice was being
transported out of the city as soon as it was brought out of the
warehouse, thereby causing prices to soar.
Dolog Jaya's head, Achmad Zawawi, said his office had set a
ceiling price of Rp 2,050 per kilogram, but that in reality,
prices had risen to as high as Rp 3,000 per kilogram. High
quality rice is now selling for as much as Rp 5,000 per kilogram.
The agency reported that it held about 465,000 tons of rice as
of Monday after it had received 6,000 tons of rice from China.
Dolog Jaya launched market operations in the city last
Thursday to stabilize rice prices. Its last market operations
took place in May.
"In order to help stabilize prices, we have assigned 260 Dolog
partners (distributors) to carry out the market operation in
markets or housing complexes throughout the city," he said.
In total, Dolog Jaya has about 3,000 distributors in Jakarta.
He admitted that the agency did not have the ability to
monitor whether violations in distribution operations were
occurring.
"That's why we urge people to give us information on any
violations in the distribution of rice. We will revoke our
cooperation agreements with distributors found guilty of any
violations.
"We have requirements for those who wish to become our
distributors. They must be able to work independently and
distribute rice throughout the city below the ceiling price set
by Dolog Jaya," he said.
Djafar said that if Dolog Jaya could not control its rice
distribution, it should ask help from security forces.
"I think the city administration can ask the Jakarta Military
Command to deploy troops at the city's gateways to prevent rice
from being transported out of Jakarta," he said. (ind)