Irian has enough food stock despite crisis, official says

JAKARTA (JP): Irian Jaya, where almost 700 people died of starvation and drought-induced disease last year, has sufficient stocks of rice and other staple foods, despite country's economic and food crises, an official has claimed.

Abulebu, who is in charge of distribution at the provincial office of the State Logistics Agency (Dolog), was quoted by Antara as saying in the Irian Jaya capital of Jayapura on Thursday that rice stocks in all regencies were standing at 55,000 metric tons. Some of rice was imported and some was donated by Japan.

The logistics agency has a further 17,000 metric tons of rice produced by local farmers in Merauke regency.

The rice and existing stocks of yams are expected to last the province's 2 million inhabitants for the next eight months. Abulebu said this meant Irian Jaya was not among areas of the country facing a food crisis.

He said Irian has a stockpile of 18,000 metric tons of sugar, enough to last three months, and wheat flour stocks of 15,000 metric tons, enough for two months.

Abulebu said the price of homegrown rice was Rp 2,000 per kilogram and the price of imported rice was Rp 2,500 (US$0.25) per kg.

A kilogram of standard quality rice can fetch up to Rp 4,000 in other parts of the country at present.

Last year, the El Nino weather phenomenon caused severe drought in many parts of Indonesia, including Irian Jaya where starvation and disease killed 700 people.

The country is now facing the worst economic crisis in its history. The number of people living in poverty has soared and theft and looting is rampant in certain parts of the country.

Reports also abound of food shortages in areas including East Nusa Tenggara, East Kalimantan and West Java.

However, the government has insisted that nationwide rice stocks are sufficient to last the country's 202 million people for the next eight months. Public stocks currently total seven million tons and an additional 2.2 million tons are held by the State Logistics Agency.

From Banda Aceh, Antara reported the supply of rice in Aceh had thinned over the past week.

The province produces an average of 1.3 metric tons of rice per annum while consumer demand runs at only 580,000 tons. However there is evidence that rice produced in the province is being transported to other areas of the country.

Meanwhile, members of House of Representatives Commission VII said they had detected a disparity in rice production and consumption in East Java which had forced the local logistics agency to import one million metric tons of rice.

Legislator Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, who delivered a report on the commission's trip to East Java last month in a plenary House session on Thursday, said forecast rice production was 4.9 million tons per annum while consumption in the province, which has a population of 34 million, was expected to be 3.5 million tons.

"That means East Java should have a 1.4 million ton surplus," he said as quoted by Antara. "In reality, though, the logistics agency has had to import one million tons of rice to meet demand and conduct market operations for the poor."

Lukman said the logistics agency had only been able to purchase 9 percent of its target of 700,000 tons because it was offering a price below current market rates, adding that this may have contributed to the provincial shortfall.

Other explanatory factors are declining purchasing power and recent calls from Moslem leaders for the community to hold back between 25 percent and 40 percent of the harvest to anticipate difficult times ahead. (swe)