Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Major factions in the House of Representatives, led by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), are opposing the government's plan to import 210,000 tons of rice from Vietnam next week.
They argued that the policy will hurt poor farmers and hinder the agricultural revitalization program. However, the opposing factions have yet to decide whether to take action against the government over the planned imports.
PDI-P faction chairman Tjahyo Kumolo said his side would lobby other factions to propose an inquiry into the government's policy. He said the rice import policy was unacceptable because it showed that the government was reluctant to buy rice from local farmers.
"Our survey shows that farmers in 17 rice belts in Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi still have a total of 113,000 tons of rice from the last harvest season, and a new harvest season is nearing, which will sufficiently strengthen the minimum national stock of 750,000 tons," he said Friday.
Tjahyo said before importing rice from Vietnam, the government should purchase it from local farmers to empower them and to support the national food policy.
National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Zulkifli Hasan and National Awakening Party (PKB) deputy chairman Yusuf Faisal also voiced opposition.
Bomer Pasaribu, a Golkar Party legislator and analyst from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, said the planned imports contradicted the government's program to promote self-support in rice. "The core problem is that the government has yet to revitalize the agriculture sector to fight for national reliance on the sector; thus we will continue importing rice," he said.
Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu confirmed Thursday that the government would go ahead with a rice import plan later this month to cover national stock shortages. She promised that the imports would not affect local markets because the imported rice would be distributed to provinces prone to rice shortages.
However, Zulkifli said rice prices have dropped by Rp 200 to Rp 400 per kilogram in almost all local markets this week because traders have been reluctant to buy rice from farmers due to the import policy.
Meanwhile, Maruahal Silalahi, a lawmaker from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democrat Party, defended the government's policy, saying the rice importation was an appropriate decision during a shortage in the national rice reserves.