Rice stock enough for eight months: Logistics agency

JAKARTA (JP): An official of the City Logistics Agency said yesterday the agency has 120,000 ton rice stock, enough to meet demand in the city for eight months.

Deputy agency head M.M. Lumbanbatu told members of the City Council's Commission B, which oversees market affairs, that about 84,000 tons of the stock consists of imports which have just arrived in the city.

"There are seven ships berthed in Tanjung Priok port. Each contains 12,000 tons of rice from India, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. There will be more to come in the near future," Lumbanbatu told the councilors when they visited the agency's warehouses in East Jakarta.

He added that the supplies from other provinces in Indonesia, like West Java and South Sulawesi, have arrived, raising the total stocks to 120,000 tons.

He explained that the demand for rice in Jakarta is 15,000 tons a month.

Lumbanbatu said that his agency was forced to send part of its stock to a number of wholesalers.

The market operation was conducted to stabilize prices, which have tended to rise over the last three weeks due to speculation among traders, he said.

He urged Jakartans not to be easily influenced by rumors of falling stocks.

"Please don't pay attention to such rumors. Don't worry, there is enough rice in the city," he reiterated.

He blamed speculators for frightening the public by saying that a scarcity of rice will soon hurt the market.

"Speculators increased the prices of medium types of rice following the slight drop in supplies from other regions," Lumbanbatu said.

He said that the speculation was made based on the news of poor harvests in rice centers due to the long dry season.

The price of medium quality rice increased from Rp 775 (35 US cents) per kilogram at the beginning of the month to Rp 900 a kilogram.

In a bid to stop further increases, the agency has dropped 10 tons of rice a day at 25 large-scale distributors for the last three days .

"The operation has reduced the price to the normal rate of Rp 775 per kg," he said.

He said the operation hit Anyar Bahari market in North Jakarta, Klender and Kramat Jati markets in East Jakarta, Tanah Abang and Senen markets in Central Jakarta, Kebayoran Lama and Pasar Minggu markets in South Jakarta, Tomang Barat and Jembatan Lima in West Jakarta.

It will continue until conditions return to normal, he added. (yns)