Pride and Rice Supplies

The government's pride should not get in the way of importing rice if we really need to do so. There must be no fear of being accused of failing to achieve the self-sufficiency target. Forget self-sufficiency for a while, the fact is that we are still unable to prevent shortages of our main staple food. So, there's no other way but to import rice, if it's necessary. Importing would not mean being against local farmers. The interest of the public, particularly those in the lower rungs, those who are vulnerable to the rise in the prices of basic needs, must be made a priority.

The price hike resulting from the rice shortage has been really felt in the past few months. Since mid-year, the price of (medium) rice has inched up from Rp9,000 per kilogram to Rp10,000 last week. The drought in a number of areas caused by El Nino has made the situation worse, thus hiking the price of rice last month.

October 6, 2015