Rice stock enough, says Bulog chief Beddu Amang

Rice stock enough, says Bulog chief Beddu Amang

JAKARTA (JP): Chairman of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog)
Beddu Amang called on the general public yesterday not to worry
about the rice supply because the agency had enough stock for
several months.

"The public doesn't need to worry. Our stock of rice is
enough," Beddu said on the sidelines of a seminar on crude palm
oil organized by the Yayasan Indonesia Forum.

He made the remark to comment on the public's haste to buy
rice at several marketplaces in Jakarta.

Observers said the rush was sparked by fear that rice would be
soon hard to find in view of the steady rise in prices.

Beddu dismissed the panic buying as temporary and blamed the
fear on the monetary fluctuation. The rupiah sharply fell against
the dollar yesterday from 8,800 to almost 10,000.

"The fear is only psychological. I will show reporters and TV
crews tomorrow morning (today) that we have enough rice stocked
at our storehouses," he said.

Beddu said the agency had 1.4 million tons of rice and was
importing another 1.5 million tons from January to March from
Pakistan, India, Vietnam and China.

The agency had supplied the market with 426,000 tons of rice
last month, and would add another 400,000 tons this month,
400,000 tons in February and 250,000 tons in March, he said.

"In April, when we expect a large harvest cross the country,
we will still have a stock of between 1 million and 1.5 million
tons," Beddu said.

Beddu said the country's rice harvest usually started at the
end of February and reached its peak in April, but the harvest
was sometimes delayed until April.

He admitted the price of high-quality rice had increased at
supermarkets because the harvest of high-quality rice had ended
and the supply in the market had decreased.

But he said the quality of rice being imported by the agency
was not inferior.

"I want to assure the public that what we are importing now is
really good quality rice," Beddu said, adding that the stock
carried over from 1997 was also of good quality. (jsk)