Govt separates agriculture and forestry ministry

Govt separates agriculture and forestry ministry

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bungaran
Saragih said on Monday that the government has decided to
separate his ministry into two state ministries.

As of Monday, the ministry was divided into the State Ministry
for Agriculture and the State Ministry for Forestry Affairs, he
said.

"The agriculture ministry will focus on food resilience and
the forestry ministry on strong agricultural businesses," Saragih
told reporters.

Saragih said he would lead the ministry of agriculture, while
the current Junior Minister for Forestry Affairs Nurmahmudi
Ismail would lead the Ministry of Forestry Affairs.

The ministries of agriculture and forestry used to work
independently until they were merged when President Abdurrahman
Wahid reshuffled the Cabinet in August.

Separately, a group of economic ministers who met on Monday
decided to raise the floor price of unhusked rice to Rp 1,500
(about 16 U.S. cents ) per kilogram from the current Rp 1,400 per
kilogram.

The Office of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy
issued a press statement saying that the increase was in
anticipation of a surge in rice supplies during the harvest
season in April next year.

Minister of Industry and Trade Luhut Pandjaitan said that the
government needed to protect local farmers who were facing an
influx of cheap imported rice.

The National Logistics Agency (Bulog) procures unhusked rice
from farmers at the government's flour price.

The meeting also resulted in a decision to retain rice imports
next year.

"To protect farmers' interests during the harvest season, the
agency has also been advised to suspend the shipments of rice it
has already ordered from foreign countries," the statement said.

It said that in case of a rice shortage, the government would
direct shipments during harvest season only to the affected
regions.

The government further insisted that civil servants and
members of the armed and the police forces in regions with an
acute shortage of rice must once again use their rice allowance
funds to purchase rice from Bulog.

Protests over the low quality of Bulog's rice were among the
reasons why the government had earlier allowed civil servants and
members of the armed and polices forces to accept cash instead of
rice.

This time, the statement said, the government would guarantee
the quality of the rice Bulog sold.

"If the quality of the rice is not as stated in the
contract, Bulog will replace it," the statement said. (bkm)