Central Sulawesi Wants to Import Rice Against Government Policy

Palu, C Sulawesi (Antara) - The Central Sulawesi unit of the Board of Logistics (Bulog) said it needs to import rice to secure stock of the staple food for the region. \"We already submitted proposal to the Bulog head office to import 2,000 tons of rice,\" head of the provincial office of Bulog Mar\'uf said here on Friday. Meanwhile, the government has said it would not import rice saying Bulog still has stocks enough to cover requirement until harvest in March or April. Mar\'suf said the Central Sulkawesi unit of Bulog had not buy rice from farmers as it is awaiting the decision on a new government purchasing (HPP) being discussed in Jakarta. Jakarta has not yet decided the new reference price, he said. In addition, harvests in the province took place only in some areas, he said, adding grand harvests are expected to take place in all areas only toward the end of March until May. Rice prices at the level of farmers in the region is around Rp9,300 per kilogram , he said. It would be difficult for Bulog to purchase rice at that price while the old official price is only Rp6,600 per kilogram. Currently the Central Sulawesi unit of Bulog holds only 9,000 tons of rice in stock and every month it is to release 3,000 tons. (*)