RI not free of fear from want

RI not free of fear from want

JAKARTA: President Megawati Soekarnoputri said on Friday that the Indonesian people were still not free of the fear from want, even though efforts to increase the food supply had been implemented over a long period.

Speaking to winners of a food resilience contest at the Merdeka Palace, Megawati admitted that Indonesia had once been self-reliant in rice.

"However, the rapid increase in population and the constraining factors in production have resulted in the reemergence of an imbalance between supply and demand," she said.

The President said that, in a drive to free Indonesia from food shortages, she had asked the minister of agriculture and related agencies to take concrete steps to overcome the constraining factors.

"I know that farmers, cattle breeders, pond-culture farmers and fishermen have always worked hard, even if only to meet their basic needs," Megawati said. --JP