According to a researcher, it need to be explored whether the scarcity occurs because of a distribution game played by the mafia or because of a lack of salt stock in storage warehouses and markets.
"If the scarcity is caused by the game, then the government needs to take firm actions and sanctions for the perpetrators," Destructive Fishing Watch (DFW) Indonesia researcher, Subhan Usman, said in Jakarta on Saturday (July 29).
Usman suggested that the government should immediately undertake a thorough reform of all aspects of national salt business performance. Comprehensive reforms cover many issues ranging from limited land and poor quality salt that local producers produce to low productivity, he continued.
In addition, it is also necessary to update the use of traditional technology and anticipate anomalies that have occurred during the last two years, he said.
"The problem of limited salt land is a fundamental issue that must be intervened through the economic equality policy currently implemented by the government through the distribution of land to salt farmers," he stated.
He stated there is no need to panic about the current salt scarcity in Indonesia because there will shortly be salt harvests in some areas in the country. "The government and the public need not panic about the scarcity of salt because this is only temporary," Usman said.
Some salt centers in some areas are currently approaching the harvest period that is expected to soon meet market needs. However, he added, the government is considering it necessary to form a team to investigate the scarcity of salt stock in the market.
In order to overcome the shortage of salt in the country, the government will import the commodity. Trade Minister Lukita said his ministry had issued licenses to 26 companies doing business in various industrial fields, such as pharmacies, chlor-alkali plant (CAP), and paper industries, to import industrial salt.
It is forecast that the annual demand of the salt industry would reach 2.3 million tons. Indonesia still depends on imports to meet its need since domestic salt production is not yet adequate.
However, a non-governmental organization leader has voiced that the government should not accord priority to the importation of salt to overcome the salt crisis.
Executive Director of the Center for Maritime Studies for Humanity Abdul Halim noted the governments policy of importing salt to overcome the commoditys scarcity in the country is not expected to become a main priority in the face of and for seeking a solution to the salt problem.
"Salt imports that had taken place so far should be stopped, especially since the government is targeting to achieve 3.2 million tons of salt production in the country in 2017. It should also be done to improve the welfare of salt farmers with the support of state funds amounting to Rp9.2 trillion as stated in the 2017 State Budget (APBN 2017)," Halim stated in Jakarta on Saturday.
According to Halim, poor salt production stemmed from the performance of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Trade, and state-owned salt firm PT Garam, which had failed to encourage the production of the commodity and improve the welfare of salt farmers.
He reminded that the production of salt in 2016 was only 118.056 tons, or equivalent to 3.7 percent of the 3.2 million tons targeted by the government in that year.
"In order to prevent this from recurring, the government must improve its performance in terms of salt production and prioritize the spirit of mutual work or cooperation to achieve the target of self-sufficiency and increase the prosperity of three million salt farmers in Indonesia," he explained.
The government had prioritized importing salt rather than utilizing the domestic produce to meet the national salt requirements during the 2010-2016 period. This is because about 80 percent of the domestic demand was imported from countries such as Australia, India, Germany, Denmark, and Singapore, according to the Center for Maritime Studies for Humanity.
Earlier, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business of Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Amirullah Setya Hardi had expressed hope that the policy on salt imports to be pursued by the government would not be viewed as a final solution to overcome the scarcity of the commodity in the country.
"Importing is not a problem to cover the scarcity, but it needs to be continued along with a long-term solution by encouraging the added value of the salt farmers production," Amirullah had stated at the UGM Campus, Yogyakarta, on Friday (July 28).
According to Amirullah, salt scarcity can be caused by two main aspects of supply and demand. The problem of supply needs to be taken into account, as it can be related to whether constraints are faced in producing salt.
From the aspect of demand, Amirullah believes it is also necessary to ascertain whether the salt produced by the farmers, which is demanded by middlemen consumers, is actually utilized to meet the needs of the Indonesian people or whether it is instead sold out to consumers in areas with higher selling value.(*)
Reporter: Andi Abdussalam
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
