Govt blamed for sugar shortage

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan: A local government official blamed on Friday a central government policy that led to a sugar shortage in East Kalimantan province.

Irianto Lambrie, head of the Industry, Trade and Cooperatives Office at the provincial administration, said that the policy, which was issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade recently, had prevented local sugar distributors from buying sugar from neighboring islands and selling it in East Kalimantan.

"The policy states that sugar distributors have to obtain a permit from the central government before they can buy sugar from a neighboring island and vice versa.

"It slows down the flow of inter-island sugar distribution and results in a scarcity of sugar in the province," he said.

The scarcity has forced the price of sugar to soar.

The price of sugar in Balikpapan and Samarinda rose to Rp 4,700 per kilogram (kg) a few days ago, far above the normal price of Rp 3,800 to Rp 4,000 per kg. -- JP