Soleh admits rice smuggling continuing unchecked
Soleh admits rice smuggling continuing unchecked
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Agriculture Soleh Solahuddin
admitted on Tuesday that the smuggling of rice from West
Kalimantan to neighboring eastern Malaysia was continuing.
"It is very difficult to monitor because there are a lot of
small, unofficial roads linking the two areas which cannot be
guarded due to the lack of security personnel," Soleh said in a
hearing with House of Representatives Commission III for
agriculture, forestry and plantations, transmigration and food
affairs.
Soleh said the much cheaper local price of the staple food was
the main reason for the smuggling.
"The smugglers are traders and also small farmers. Traders
sell the subsidized rice to take advantage of the high disparity
between the government's subsidized price and the international
market price in Malaysia."
Soleh said farmers did not consider that selling rice in
Malaysia was illegal, but merely a continuation of their
traditional trading relationship.
The government has distributed more than 64,000 metric tons of
rice from other provinces in West Kalimantan and imported more
than 10,000 tons from April to August.
"Despite the good harvest the province still suffers a
shortage of rice in the domestic supply due to the smuggling.
Therefore, the prevention of illegal exports must be
intensified," he said.
The ministry and the West Kalimantan provincial administration
are working together to prevent the smuggling from becoming
widespread.
"We will take various steps (to probe the smuggling), and we
will cooperate with the security apparatus and customs office,"
Soleh said.
"The West Kalimantan provincial administration has ordered
regents of the border areas to bar people from bringing basic
commodities to Malaysia. It has also cooperated with its
Malaysian counterparts to stop illegal trading."
Soleh also announced that the government would provide Rp 5
trillion to subsidize fertilizers during this year planting
season until next year's harvest in March.
He said the funds would be used to subsidize for million tons
urea fertilizers, one million tons of superphospate 36 and ZA
respectively and 400,000 tons of Kalium chloride.
Soleh said the government was formulating a better scheme in
distributing the subsidized fertilizers to avoid malfeasance.
He admitted that most of the subsidized fertilizers earmarked
for farmers was sold instead to plantation companies.
He said a probe was still underway into the amount of
government losses caused by the irregularities.
The government has subsidized three common fertilizers --
urea, ZA and superphospate 36 -- to assist farmers amid soaring
prices of fertilizers and to boost the country's rice and food
crop production. Subsidies for other types of fertilizers have
been abolished gradually since 1990.
Subsidies, limited to food crops and horticulture farming, are
exclusive for farmers.
The government previously targeted the fertilizer subsidy at
Rp 2.1 billion.
Soleh said many major plantation firms bought the fertilizers
at subsidized prices due to unscrupulous distribution practices
and collusion committed by officials of fertilizer producer and
village cooperatives.
Most of the malfeasance occurred in fertilizer distribution at
the regency level and in village cooperatives' warehouses, he
said.
"The move will be taken to cut the distribution chain and to
end the unfair practices," Soleh said. (gis)