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)