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