"I say, no more complaints about rice and food stock. The President gave a directive that all people's needs are fulfilled," he said in Surabaya, East Java, on Tuesday, during Cheap Food Initiative (GPM).
Some measures are carried out, such as allocating Rp 1.6 trillion (around US$ 97.56 million) to push for sugar production by clearing sugarcane ratoon, he said.
Of the budget, East Java gets Rp700 billion (US$42.68 million) because 50 percent of the national sugar is supplied by that region. However, 86 percent of its sugarcane crop is damaged, hence the ratoon clearing is necessary, he noted.
Moreover, there is a 200 percent increase in the sugarcane crop, he added. It was five thousand hectares in the previous year, and it has significantly expanded to 15 thousand hectares to date, he remarked.
"The budget has been allocated and it is being carried out. Agricultural tool assistance like tractors and combine harvesters are consistently granted as well," he added.
Currently, fertilizers have also been subsidized as well through a program whose budget is capped at Rp9.95 trillion (US$ 606.71 million) on a national scale. Moreover, there are seed assistance valued at Rp200 billion (US$ 12.20 million), and half of it was allocated for East Java.
The minister also gave Bulog, the state's food logistics company, a directive to facilitate access to cheap rice, such as through GPM, so people can partake in it. In GPM, people can buy rice sold in the Food Price Stabilization (SPHP) scheme priced at Rp55 thousand per bag (US$3.35), he pointed out.
Sulaiman stressed his administration's commitment to protect people from food mafias, and cases like faux premium rice in which low quality products are rebranded as higher quality one.
The crime is harmful to people, as the low quality rice which is supposed to be sold at Rp12 thousand per bag is sold at Rp17 thousand per bag, allowing the mafia to gain Rp10 trillion (US$609.76 million) in profit per month.
The same goes for cooking oil, he said. Indonesia is the largest supplier of cooking oil in the world, fulfilling 60 percent of global needs, yet one time, the product was scarce in Indonesia.
"Surely something was wrong. Hence, the government and Police, National Defense Force, and prosecutors will take firm action against all food mafia," he said.
However, currently the national food stock situation is at its peak ever, he said, and global data shows that the increase in national food production is ranked the second in the world.
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Translator: Astrid Faidlatul Habibah, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Arie Novarina
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