Dilantik Prabowo, Karding langsung soroti karantina dan ekspor-impor

JAKARTA - Abdul Kadir Karding started his new job with a not easy job, namely guarding the entrance to Indonesia from animal and plant diseases, without making exports and imports stagnate.

This was conveyed by Karding after being inaugurated by President Prabowo Subianto as Head of the Indonesian Quarantine Agency at the Presidential Palace Complex, Jakarta, Monday, April 27.

Karding said the Quarantine Agency must ensure that diseases carried by animals, fish, and plants, especially from abroad, do not enter Indonesia. Supervision, said Karding, must be tightened.

However, Karding does not want quarantine to turn into a long bureaucratic table. Inspections can be strict, but the flow of goods should not be jammed. "Do not have such strict supervision and then the export-import process hinders, then it affects our economy," he said.

According to him, quarantine must close the gap of diseases in ports, airports, and border gates. But at the same time, officers should not be the cause of slow logistics.

In the near future, Karding will coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies. He mentioned the Coordinating Minister for Food, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, the Ministry of Agriculture, Immigration and Corrections, and Customs.

He will also continue the steps that the previous head of the agency has done, while correcting the parts that are still weak.

The Indonesian Quarantine Agency itself is a non-ministerial government agency under the President. This institution was formed in 2023 to unite the affairs of animal, fish, and plant quarantine under one command.