Bulog's President Director, Budi Waseso, conducted an impromptu inspection at one of its warehouses in Kelapa Gading, Jakarta, on Thursday.
Waseso remarked that the national rice stock in Bulog's warehouses had reached 1.7 million tons, while supply for Jakarta had touched 323 thousand tons.
"It means that national supply as well as stock for Jakarta is adequate, and soon, probably in March, we will absorb more rice supply from the centers producing the commodity," he remarked.
He reiterated that with Bulog’s current rice stock, the people should not be concerned about the supply of the staple food item during Ramadhan and Eid al-Fitr in April and May.
Waseso showed journalists during the inspection of the warehouse full of rice stock, including imported rice from Pakistan and Thailand. He made assurance that all rice stored in the agency's warehouses is free from bugs and is fresh.
"All rice stored in this warehouse has been processed in a rice milling machine to ensure that Bulog’s rice is not lousy and stale," he noted.
The agency has also continued to conduct market operation to maintain the price of medium rice in the market. It has distributed 300 thousand tons of rice during the period from January to February 26 during the market operation.
The market operation has successfully stabilized the price of rice in 2019, he noted.
Bulog has also distributed rice for the non-cash food assistance program (BPNT) through e-warong, state-bank agents, and RPK (Our Food House). As of Wednesday (Feb 26), it had distributed 43 thousand tons of rice under the BPNT program.
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Translator: Mentari DG, Sri Haryati
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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