NGOs welcome to monitor rice program: Widjanarko
NGOs welcome to monitor rice program: Widjanarko
The State Logistics Agency (Bulog) officially launched the so-
called "rice for the poor" program last week. Under the Rp 4.67
trillion (US$449 million) program, Bulog will provide 2.35
million tons of rice to around 9.79 million poor families across
the country. Bulog Chief Widjanarko Puspoyo talked about the
program and the government's rice policy in an interview with The
Jakarta Post's Adianto P. Simamora.
Question: What is the concept behind the new program?
Answer : Basically, the concept of the rice for the poor
program is the same as for the previous special market operation
program (OPK), which was first implemented in 1998 in the wake of
the economic crisis to help poor families.
But in the rice for the poor program, Bulog wants to sharpen
the targeted group.
We want to ensure that the rice really goes to the intended
poor families across the country.
Why did you change the name of the program?
Because our previous experience showed that the OPK program
was not effective in helping poor families because many of them
did not actually receive the rice.
The fact is that much of the (subsidized) rice went to people
who were not entitled to receive it.
How did you obtain the names of the recipients?
We collected data from the National Family Planning
Coordinating Board (BKKBN). According to the BKKBN's data, there
are about 14.7 million poor families across the country but the
government can only cover around 9.79 million this year.
Each local administration (from subdistrict level to
provincial level) also provided data about the population of poor
families in their respective areas.
Bulog has issued coupons to the poor families included in the
program. With the coupon, the poor families are entitled to buy
20 kilogram of rice per month at only Rp 1,000.
Who will monitor the program?
There is a special monitoring team, consisting of officials
from various ministries and Bulog.
They will intensively monitor the program and deliver a
progress report every three months.
However, for day-to-day monitoring, we invite all social
groups, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs),
university student groups and also the press to participate.
I don't want to rely solely on my staff for the monitoring.
Many people have voiced concerns about the possibility of
wrongdoing on the part of officials.
We are committed to improving the supervision aspect.
We will take stern actions against officials who abuse the
program. I will report them to the police and fire them.
That's why I have asked all parties to help monitor the
distribution. Please, report it to me if there is any malpractice
in the implementation of the program.
What is the main role of Bulog in this program?
Bulog will only deliver the rice from logistics depots to each
district level. That's our main job.
Where will the funding come from?
Bulog will use the social compensation fund of about Rp 500
billion while the remainder will come from the government subsidy
allocated in the 2002 state budget.
The fee for transportation from warehouse to each district
level will be taken from the 2002 state budget. But from the
subdistrict level to the recipients it will be covered by the
respective local administration budget.
The price of rice has increased by around 30 percent lately.
Why?
Basically, the current rise in the price of rice is due to the
liberalization policy. The price of rice on the international
market is now increasing. Indonesia, meanwhile, did not have
enough supply to meet domestic demand.
The shortage of domestic supply was then replaced by imported-
rice with higher prices.
The government can no longer intervene in the market. And the
government does not even know the number of rice importers or the
quality of the imported rice.
Can Bulog play a role to curb the price increase?
I first want to make a clarification about the position of the
so-called new Bulog. We are now very different from the previous
Bulog.
There has been a misunderstanding about the new Bulog. Many
experts and officials used to blame Bulog for increases in the
price of rice.
Bulog no longer has the authority to stabilize the price of
rice because we can't intervene in the domestic market.
The price of rice is now mainly dependent on the market
mechanism.
We (Bulog) lost our monopoly to import and distribute rice in
1998 in an agreement reached between the former president B.J.
Habibie and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Since that time, traders have been allowed to freely import
rice without having to pay (import) duty or seek a license from
the government.
We haven't imported rice since 1998.
Bulog is also charged with helping to stabilize the domestic
price of unhusked price. But we have to pay commercial interest
of about 21.5 percent to the banks (for the funding of the
program).
Since 1998, Bulog has not received subsidy funds from the
government to buy unhusked rice from farmers.
What should the government do to halt the increase in the rice
price?
That is the problem now... I have asked the government to re-
evaluate the national rice policy.
The current problem emerged because of the liberalization of
the rice sector, in which there is no longer a special body that
controls the domestic price.
I explained this situation to President Megawati Soekarnoputri
last Friday.
What was Megawati's response?
Megawati asked me (Bulog) to immediately draft a (new)
national rice policy.
She also asked me to invite related ministers to discuss the
draft.
Can you tell us about the content of the draft?
The most important thing is that the draft does not mean to
return monopoly rights back to Bulog. I don't want Bulog to
monopolize the importation and distribution of rice but I also
don't want to leave it all to the private sector.
We need a special body to control the price of rice.
This is the right moment to re-evaluate and re-position the
government's policy on rice.