Food shortage requires urgent action: Megawati

JAKARTA (JP): Megawati Soekarnoputri warned the government yesterday that while the economic crisis can be cured in the long-term, the problem of hunger is urgent and should be dealt with immediately.

"Stomachs cannot wait," said Megawati, the ousted chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) -- which in the past had sometimes been branded the closest Indonesia got to an opposition party.

Megawati told reporters yesterday that the government should take measures to ensure an adequate food supply for the next two months.

She said the festive and holiday season, including Christmas, New Year and Idul Fitri, would mean greater consumption.

Megawati said she could understand the government had its hands full with major problems, including the monetary crisis, drought and forest fires. But she said the government needed to prioritize measures to reduce the harsh impact of the drought.

She said that while forest fires had been brought under control, the monetary crisis would take longer to solve. It was the problem of food shortages that had to be dealt with urgently, she said.

"I am sure these problems will some day be settled," she said.

Megawati, who was dethroned in a government-backed PDI congress in June last year, said several provinces have been seriously affected by the long drought.

"Some of my supporters in different provinces told me that there have been food shortages in their regions," she said. "If the problem goes unchecked, it will also affect other provinces soon."

She said the government should be open to importing rice.

"The government is not supposed to keep people waiting in hunger, leaving them uncertain as to whether they will eventually have a proper and adequate food supply," she said.

The government has never officially announced whether or not it will import rice, but individual officials have admitted that Indonesia has already imported rice.

State Minister of Food Ibrahim Hasan said earlier this month that the government had allocated nearly Rp 1 trillion (US$281.7 million) to finance rice and sugar imports in anticipating rice scarcity in February next year.

He said Indonesia had to import to maintain two million tons of rice stocks per month. (imn)