Belitung - Perum Bulog Belitung Branch, Bangka Belitung Islands Province, provided clarification regarding the scarcity of Food Supply Stabilization and Price (SPHP) rice that the public has complained about in recent times.
The head of Bulog Belitung Branch, Syahrianza Rahman, explained that at this time his party had not been able to distribute SPHP rice because the distribution permit from the National Food Agency (Bapanas) had not yet been issued.
"Bulog as the operator, while the regulator is Bapanas. So there is no permit to issue SPHP rice," Syahrianza told reporters in Tanjungpandan, Antara, Thursday, May 22.
He emphasized that the termination of the distribution of SPHP rice did not only occur in the Belitung area, but was valid nationally. The last distribution was carried out in March 2025.
"This is not only in Belitung, because this is a regulation from the center. Until today, the license for distribution of SPHP rice has not been issued," he said.
According to Syahrianza, this temporary suspension is related to efforts to maintain the stability of grain and rice prices at the farmer level. The government assesses that if SPHP rice continues to be distributed in the middle of the harvest period, local rice prices have the potential to fall.
This policy is also to keep the price of grain from falling. So if the SPHP is issued at harvest, it is feared that farmers will lose money," he explained.
He added that although the stock of SPHP was available and sold through the Cheap Food Movement (GPM) program, now the stock is no longer circulating in the market.
SEE ALSO:
"SPHP rice is indeed a lot sought after by the public because the quality is good and the price is affordable. But until now we don't know when the distribution permit will be issued again," he said.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
