Now (in 2023), it will be disbursed door-to-door.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Director of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) Budi Waseso has assured that the agency will disburse rice aid to 2.3 million beneficiaries as soon as it receives recipient data from the Social Affairs Ministry.

"(We will distribute the assistance) starting this month (March 2023). Currently, we are just waiting for the list of names (of the beneficiaries) from the Social Affairs Ministry,” he said here on Wednesday.

He informed that Bulog will only disburse rice assistance.

Earlier, the government had planned to also provide chicken, meat, and eggs assistance, which will be distributed by state-run food holding company ID FOOD.

The food assistance package will be provided for three months.

The head of Bulog said that the distribution of the rice assistance would be carried out door-to-door for beneficiaries.

In 2022, state-run postal company PT Pos Indonesia was tasked with distributing the aid.

"The (distribution) scheme is different from prior (in 2022), which (the rice) was stored (at post offices) and then taken (by the beneficiaries) at the determined locations. Now (in 2023), it will be disbursed door-to-door," Waseso informed.

However, he said that currently, only 380 thousand tons of government rice reserves (CBP) are available at Bulog’s warehouses, while the demand for rice assistance over the next 3 months is estimated at 640 thousand tons.

The rice reserves will increase since the harvest season in Indonesia will peak at the end of March and early April 2023, he added.

Furthermore, his agency will also cooperate with modern rice mills to meet the rice needs.

"It (the amount of rice which will be supplied by the mills) is being calculated by the National Food Agency (NFA),” he disclosed.

He said that in the near future, the NFA will review the production capabilities of the mills and how much rice the mills can provide for the social assistance program.

Meanwhile, the deputy for food availability and stabilization at NFA, I Gusti Ketut Astawa, said that the distribution of the social assistance will not affect the Food Supply and Price Stabilization (SPHP) Program, which also uses the CBP, since the aid will be disbursed in stages over three months.

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Translator: Kuntum Riswan, Uyu Liman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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