Legislator Asks Government to Stop Salt Imports

Pamekasan, East Java (Antara) - The chairman of Pamekasan Regional Legislative Assembly (DPRD)'s Commission B, Hosnan Achmadi, has asked the central government to stop imports of salt which were detrimental to salt farmers. "Normally when the production is small, the selling price should be higher, but it was ironical that although the production last year was small, the selling price was low," Hosnan said here on Sunday. According to him, the low selling price of salt happened because of excessive salt imports. "The highest retail price from the Government was set at Rp750 per kg but in reality the selling price of salt last year was around Rp400 to Rp500 per kg," Hosnan explained. He noted that domestic salt farmers are still relying on government intervention to advance their business by reevaluating the policy of salt imports. "If the government continues to import salt, its effort to advance the local salt industry will be in vain," he noted. (*)