Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – On a rainy afternoon, Murtatiningsih, 37, spoon feeds her young child in front of her house in Bayur subdistrict, Rajabasa district in Bandarlampung.

The child seems to enjoy the food even though she is being fed a piece of fried tempe (soybean cake) and rice that has been mixed with oyek.

Oyek is made of dried cassava and can be mixed with rice to make larger quantities or eaten as a substitute for rice. A kilogram of rice mixed with 1.5 kg of oyek is enough for the daily meals of nine people. For Murtatiningsih, oyek is a staple in times of hardship.

The State Logistics Agency (Bulog) has sold subsidized rice in a number of markets in Bandarlampung for the past several days. But Murtatiningsih and her husband Paino cannot afford it.

"The markets where the cheap rice is sold are far away. Even if we could buy a few kilograms of rice, we don't have enough money for transportation. So we just have to make do with oyek," said the mother of seven.

Murtatiningsih and her family are forced to consume oyek two to three months of the year when the price of rice skyrockets. While they do till a small plot of rice paddy themselves, stocks never last long. "I usually make oyek once a year for when our rice stock runs out," she said.

Paino, 40, is a farmer working on a sharecropping basis. He receives 300 kg of rice for his labor, while the owner of the rice paddy receives 200 kg.

"This rice lasts a few months. After that, we have to eat rice mixed with oyek. We have sidedishes if we have enough money, otherwise we just eat oyek with a dash of salt," said Murtatiningsih.

Her family has been eating oyek mixed with rice for the past month. Their rice stock has dwindled to three kg, which is enough for the next three days. Then they will be forced to eat pure oyek.

Murtatiningsih said her family had never had the opportunity to eat Bulog-subsidized rice, which costs Rp 3,700 (approximately 41 US cents) per kg. "I want to buy the rice but I can't afford to at the moment," she said.

Many believe that distribution methods for Bulog-subsidized rice are not effective. "It seems that those who buy this rice are not poor. They have motorcycles and cars to transport sacks of rice, while the actual poor are not reached," said Riyadi Murdoko, the head of the advocation division of Lampung's Anti-Corruption Commission.

According to Murdoko, the large number of families eating oyek in Bandarlampung is disheartening.

"If there are people in the city who still can't afford to eat rice, there must be distribution problems. We have discovered that most of the subsidized rice is being purchased by those who do not need it. Even some village administration heads have been reselling subsidized rice to make a profit," said Murdoko.

Bandarlampung municipal councillor Mungliana said Bulog-subsidized rice and rice-for-the-poor provisions should be for poor people. He said that the administration should have accurate data on the number of families requiring support so that rice provisions can be channeled to those who need it.

"Without such data, only traders and rich people are benefiting from this cheap rice intended for the poor. Take a look, many collecting the rice have cars. They are obviously not poor," said Mungliana.

The administration provides 18 kg of rice for each poor family in Bandarlampung per month. This is clearly not enough, leaving many poor families to survive on rice mixed with oyek or aking (dry, leftover rice).