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BULOG Must Suitable Serving As Commodity Stowage Observer

The state logistics board Bulog is the most suitable agency for serving as a storage facility for various strategic commodities in the country, according to observer Khudori.

"Compared with other state-owned firms (BUMN) and private companies, Bulog is the one that has the most complete infrastructure and facilities, such as relatively large warehouses," Khudori said here on Wednesday.

Bulog also has enough human resources to carry out its responsibility as a price stabilizer for various strategic food commodities that are needed by the Indonesian people.

He added that in the past Bulog had taken on the task of stabilizing prices of various foods, but now Bulog was only in charge of stabilizing the price of rice.

Khudori hoped that the government would prepare various price stability instruments so that Bulog would be able to play a role as an effective price stabilizer for several food commodities.

Earlier, Ma'mur Hasanuddin, a member of the House of Representatives (DPR)' Commission IV on agricultural affairs, said that the government plan to revitalize Bulog must be supported by providing enough infrastructures, regulations and human resources.

"The government's plan to revitalize Bulog must be supported with superior organizational management, infrastructure and qualified human resources," Ma'mur said.

Currently, Bulog is responsible for supervising the government-sanctioned unhusked rice price, stabilize the price of rice, distribute inexpensive rice to the poor and manage the nation's food stocks.

Bulog has 26 regional divisions, regional offices in 30 locations, 463 warehouses throughout Indonesia and a staff of 5,025.

Last week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asked for the revitalization of the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) as a stabilizer of prices of not only rice, but of other food commodities needed by the people, as well.

In a cabinet meeting here on Thursday the President said the revitalization was needed due to stability challenges caused by continuously increasing prices of various food commodities and food demand from the public.

"I think and I have received support that Bulog must be revitalized to be a price stabilizer in line with the history of its establishment," he said.

In connection with what he called for, a team will be created to revive Bulog's role and study food commodities that would be put under the responsibility of the agency.

"I hope it could be done immediately, that a decision could be immediately made on which commodities must be supervised, such as rice, soybean, corn or others that people really need," he said.

President Yudhoyono recalled that world food supplies are currently vulnerable due to climate changes, while referring to the increasing price of soybeans due to the ongoing drought in the US and other countries.

The price of soybean has reached Rp7,000 to Rp8,000 per kilogram, rising from Rp5,000 to Rp6,000, causing a strike by soybean cake (tempe) and tofu producers in the country in recent days.

In Indonesia, the price of soybean is vulnerable to supplies from abroad as domestic production only meets 800,000 to 850,000 kilograms out of the of 2.2 million tons needed for domestic consumption.


Source : Antara