Pusri to take over all fertillizer distribution
Pusri to take over all fertillizer distribution
JAKARTA (JP): The government has assigned state-owned PT Pupuk
Sriwidjaja (Pusri) to take over all fertilizer distribution lines
from producers to farmers to prevent a recurrence of shortages
caused by distribution mismanagement.
Minister of Industry and Trade Tunky Ariwibowo announced
yesterday that he has issued Ministerial Decree No.
38/MPP/KEP/3/1996 to authorize Pusri to take responsibility for
the distribution of urea, super-phosphate-36 (SP-36), triple-
super-phosphate (TSP) and ZA fertilizers.
The decree, dated March 6, 1996, was issued to replace the
existing regulation which authorized Pusri to distribute only
urea from producers to regency-level warehouses and which
assigned PT Petrokimia Gresik to distribute SP-36/TSP and ZA
fertilizers.
The distribution line of fertilizers from regency warehouses
to farmers used to be under the responsibility of village
cooperatives.
"Under the new ruling, Pusri is authorized to distribute
all kinds of fertilizers for any purposes, including those for
plantations, fishery, animal husbandry and forestry," Tunky said.
The fertilizer distribution monopoly is designed to ensure
adequate supplies for food production.
Indonesia has six fertilizer producers, Pusri in South
Sumatra, Petrokimia in East Java, PT Pupuk Kaltim in East
Kalimantan, PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda and PT Aceh Fertilizer Plant
in Aceh and PT Pupuk Kujang in West Java.
Recent shortages of fertilizer in some provinces have caused
related parties to blame each other. Farmers, for example, blamed
village cooperatives for their failure to provide fertilizer on
time, while private retailers offered their fertilizer at higher
prices.
The Association of Village Cooperatives told a hearing with
Commission VII of the House of Representatives last month that it
could not be blamed for the fertilizer shortages because most of
the distribution networks were held by Pusri.
The chairman of the association, Jeff Mustopha Atmaja, even
requested that the commission support the association's demand
that the government authorize cooperatives to manage all lines of
distribution from producers to farmers.
Tunky said yesterday that Pusri, in practice, can assign
cooperatives to distribute fertilizer from regency storehouses to
retailers and farmers.
"But Pusri must be responsible if there is any trouble in the
distribution of fertilizer," Tunky told the press meeting.
Pusri's president, Suhadi, and senior officials of the office of
the Coordinating Minister for Economy and Finance, the Ministry
of Agriculture, the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small
Enterprises and the Ministry of Finance, were also present during
the announcement.
Inspector General of the Ministry of Industry and Trade R.
Pramono said that based on the inspection of his team, the recent
shortages of fertilizer in some provinces were caused by
inappropriate planning.
He added that the higher prices of fertilizers, as compared to
their government-set levels, were caused by a monopoly in
transportation by cooperatives, which did not have an adequate
number of vehicles. (kod)