Thousands rampage over scarcity of fertilizer

Thousands rampage over scarcity of fertilizer

SEMARANG (JP): Thousands of people in the Central Java town of
Blora went on a rampage on Monday evening over the scarcity of
fertilizer, leaving at least six people badly injured and dozens
of shops and vehicles damaged.

It was reported that some 2,000 people gathered in a downtown
area and began to attack and loot shops and houses. "They also
vandalized vehicles and traffic lights," Sulaeman, a witness,
told The Jakarta Post here on Tuesday.

Police said that five shops selling fertilizers, three
electronic stores and eight houses were damaged in the rampage.
No arrests have been made. It was also reported that the around
200 police personnel deployed to the scene were outnumbered by
the mob.

Soekardi, a regent in Blora, reacted to the tension -- which
lasted until Tuesday afternoon -- by appealing to shop owners to
sell their fertilizers at the older, cheaper prices.

Chief of the Blora police, Lt. Col. Guritno Sigit, said on
Tuesday afternoon that the town was still tense and almost all
the shops were closed. He added that groups of people were still
seen in various areas of the city.

"Hundreds of security personnel from the Police Mobile Brigade
and the local military have been deployed to restore order," he
said.

Also on Tuesday, hundreds of farmers from the Djati
subdistrict rioted, damaging several kiosks and shops belonging
to village cooperatives, because of the scarcity of fertilizer in
the market.

Shops and cooperatives have sold fertilizers at sharply higher
prices because of scarcity and reported hoarding.

Kompas reported on Tuesday that hundreds of angry farmers
forced fertilizer shops to sell their stocks at cheaper prices.

One shop was forced to sell its urea and SP-36 fertilizer
stock at between Rp 500 (approximately US$ .07) and Rp 800 per
kilogram. The fertilizers were priced between Rp 1,115 and Rp
1,600 per kilogram.

It was reported from Jakarta on Tuesday that beginning on Dec.
12 the government will provide L/C (letter of credit) guarantees
to companies intending to import TSP & KCL fertilizers. A Cabinet
minister said that this would help meet the domestic need for
fertilizer.

The government will provide this assistance because national
companies wishing to import fertilizer are having difficulties
opening L/Cs in foreign countries, Trade and Industry Minister
Rahardi Ramelan said.

Meanwhile, it was reported by Antara that the scarcity of
fertilizers and their soaring prices in Central Java could lead
to unrest in the regencies of Sragen, Blora, Karanganyar,
Grobogan, Brebes and Pati.

Director of the central cooperative of Central Java, Omar
Ghani, said at a meeting with the provincial legislative council
on Tuesday that fertilizer use in the six regencies accounts for
37 percent of the total 1.2 million metric tons of fertilizer.

"Security authorities need to pay close attention to this
issue," he said.

The regencies of Brebes, Grobogan and Pati each need seven
percent of the total demand for fertilizer, while Blora and
Sragen usually absorb five percent each and Karanganyar six
percent, Omar said.

"Distribution in these areas should be maintained and
stabilized so that there's never any scarcity, because even now
farmers are already worried by the skyrocketing prices," he said.
(har/rms/swe)