Pasar Jaya to help food distribution

Pasar Jaya to help food distribution

JAKARTA (JP): PD Pasar Jaya, the city market managing company,
will likely be involved in a food distribution center to be set
up by the central government to help facilitate food
distribution, an official said.

"We have just discussed the possible involvement of Pasar Jaya
in the distribution of various basic food commodities," the
firm's president, Albert Napitupulu, said after a meeting with
Industry and Trade Minister Rahardi Ramelan on Tuesday.

He said that further discussions for the involvement of Pasar
Jaya in the distribution center will be held with the minister
next week.

The possible involvement of the firm at the center was
apparently made in response to a proposal by Thomas Dharmawan,
chairman of the Indonesian Association of Food Manufacturers
(GAPMMI) on the grounds that the firm, which manages more than
150 traditional markets in Jakarta, has many outlets.

"If such a food distribution center is managed by a private
institution, there would be a tendency for it to be concentrated
only in crowded areas," Dharmawan said.

The planned food distribution center is scheduled to be
managed by a state-owned trading company, but in the long run it
would be transferred to a private institution, Antara reported.
(hhr)