It is important to involve village-owned enterprises as distributors of subsidised fertilizers
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The House of Representatives' Commission IV member, Andi Akmal Pasluddin, urged the government to involve village-owned enterprises in the distribution of subsidised fertilizers provided by the government.

"It is important to involve village-owned enterprises as distributors of subsidized fertilizers," Pasluddin noted in his written statement received in Jakarta, Wednesday.

Village-owned enterprises should play a role in the fertilizer distribution chain, as they are an extension of the village authorities and the closest institution to the targeted recipients, he stated.

Improvements to the distribution chain by involving village-owned enterprises aim to reduce the fertilizer storing period at warehouses and to enhance monitoring of the distribution and utilisation of subsidised fertilizers, according to the legislator.

"Improvement in the distribution chain aims to reduce the storing period, so the fertilizer would not be stored for lengthy periods of time at the warehouse and to also enhance the monitoring of subsidised fertilizers distributed to villages," Pasluddin remarked.

Involvement of village-owned enterprises in the distribution chain will mirror the authority's confidence in the local enterprises' performance, as their role is essential to boosting performance and efficiency of the fertilizer distribution process, he remarked.

"Farmers repeatedly complained about the scarcity of subsidised fertilizers. To prevent it from recuring in future, we need to involve village-owned enterprises since they are the closest institution to the farmers as the distributor of subsidised fertilizers," Pasluddin remarked.

Despite Pasluddin's support for involving village-owned enterprises in the distribution process, he reminded the authority to first test and assess their performance in the distribution chain to ensure their ability to distribute the fertilizers this year.

Earlier, Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo had made assurance that sufficient stocks were available for the October 2021 harvest period, especially for farmers in Kalimantan and Sulawesi.

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Translator: M Razi Rahman, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Sri Haryati
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