Governor Rejects Call for Rice Import

Surabaya, E Java (ANTARA) - East Java Governor Soekarwo rejected a call of the Indonesian Farmers Association (HKTI) to import rice soon. "East Java still has enough rice stocks. It even still has a rice surplus of one million tons. The rice is still with the farmers and has not yet been bought by Bulog," the East Java governor said here on Wednesday. The governor will not question the central government's policy to import rice as long as the imported rice was not distributed to East Java's market. "If you want to see East Java's rice stocks please don't see them in Bulog's warehouses but go to the farmers," the governor said at the building of the regional legislative assembly (DPRD). The faction of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP also has expressed a rejection of the importation of rice by Surabaya. "Our faction refused the proposal for rice importation in East Java," PDIP spokesman at the DPRD Sugiono said. He even regretted the performance of the national logistics agency Bulog which was not able to meet its target of purchasing 3.5 million tons from farmers. In the meantime, DPRD's Commission B chairman Renville Antonio said that East Java did not need to import rice, saying that rice at the farmers' level was yet to be absorbed so that any import would derive price down.