Sudden inspection of rice traders at a number of traditional markets in Indonesia is being held. This is carried out by the Food Task Force in each region to anticipate hoarding and aims to maintain stability in the price of the staple rice commodity on the market. The Regional Government is concerned that the rice stock program will be misused by irresponsible individuals who have the heart to hoard rice.
INDEF Center for Food, Energy and Sustainable Development researcher, Rusli Abdullah, asked the Government to anticipate the potential for rice stockpiling in Indonesia. The government must take firm action to suppress behavior that leads to panic when buying rice.
The Government carried out this action by operating markets, carrying out inspections, and providing rice assistance to middle and lower class people who were affected by inflation in rice prices. Then, the Government also helps farmers to be ready to harvest during the main harvest season.
Malang City is one of the areas where inspections are currently being carried out. Head of Criminal Investigation Unit for Malang Police, AKP Wahyu Rizki Saputro, said that the inspection was carried out by the Malang Police Food Task Force in order to ensure the availability of rice supplies to meet the community’s needs.
Apart from carrying out inspections, his party also checked the availability of rice commodities at the Bulog warehouse in Malang City and its surroundings. According to him, the rice stock in the Bulog warehouse is still safe for community needs for the next six months.
Meanwhile, the Head of Public Relations of the Malang Police, Inspector Ahmad Taufik, asked the public, especially those in Malang City, not to worry and avoid panic buying because the Malang Police will not hesitate to take firm action if rice hoarding practices are found that could be detrimental to the community.
On the other hand, inspections of rice traders were also carried out in Blitar City, East Java. This inspection was carried out by the Blitar City Food Task Force to anticipate rice hoarding on the market. The Blitar City Food Task Force has visited a number of basic food traders and design shops to ensure that the rice stock in Blitar City is safe for the community’s needs.
Head of the Blitar City Police Criminal Investigation Unit, Ipda Yuno Sukaito, said that the Food Task Force in Blitar City routinely checks rice stocks at market traders, including stocks at the Bulog Warehouse. Distribution from Bulog is still monitored smoothly so that the distribution of rice to the community in each village has no obstacles. Not only that, his party also checks the price of rice so that it does not increase.
Then, to anticipate hoarding by unscrupulous individuals, his party continued to monitor rice storage warehouses and inspected a number of markets in Blitar City. This anticipation needs to be done to prevent delays in the distribution of rice to the community.
Repacking and blending are also the main focus of the Government which is carried out by irresponsible speculators. This action is of course very detrimental to the community because they get rice mixed with Bulog subsidies and poor quality rice.
Seeing this, the Chairman of the DPR RI Budget Agency (Banggar), Said Abdullah, appealed to the Government to take action to anticipate food hoarding so that hoarding, mixing and other cheating practices would not occur in the people’s strategic food management.
The government will also take firm action against individuals who hoard or distribute rice who do not comply with the provisions of the regulations. Apart from that, the Government will not hesitate to bring these individuals to justice in order to create a deterrent effect on the perpetrators.
The Government is anticipating this by maintaining food security, securing prices at the producer and consumer levels, managing food reserves, providing and distributing food, developing food-based industries, as well as food import activities so as to minimize opportunities for naughty elements to commit fraud.
With the commitment and strategic steps taken by the Government and the Food Task Force in various regions, it is hoped that fraudulent behavior from perpetrators who hoard and mix SPHP rice can be prevented. Then, it is also hoped that it can maintain the stability of rice supplies and food prices so that they are always in a safe condition for the benefit of the community.
The public does not need to worry about rice stocks in Indonesia because the Government has prepared various efforts to ensure that rice reserves in Bulog warehouses are always available. The public also does not need to panic when buying rice because the Government will guarantee that criminals will not find hoarding of rice. In the future, it is hoped that the public can strengthen their support for the Government’s steps in ensuring the availability of rice stocks on the market.
