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)