JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto claims that Indonesia's rice reserves are now at the highest level in the history of the republic. This achievement is said to make Indonesia more prepared to face the global food crisis.
Prabowo conveyed the claim during the Plenary Cabinet Meeting at the State Palace, Jakarta, Monday, July 20.
"Our rice reserves are the highest in the history of the Republic of Indonesia," said Prabowo.
He said food security was the most basic measure for a country. According to Prabowo, independence loses its meaning if the government is unable to guarantee people get food.
Prabowo said the world was facing a war, supply chain disruptions, and food panic. In the midst of this situation, Indonesia was considered to have achieved self-sufficiency first.
"Many countries are panicking about food. We have been the first to be self-sufficient in food," he said.
He also said the government had maintained the availability of fertilizer, controlled food prices, and expanded a nutritious meal program for students, pregnant women, toddlers, and the elderly.
According to Prabowo, food policy cannot be separated from handling poverty and nutritional problems. He rejected criticism that called the Free Nutritious Meal program a waste.
"I was attacked because I wanted to feed nutritious food for Indonesian children," he said.
Prabowo assessed that the criticism was not commensurate with the lack of attention to the leakage of state wealth, which amounted to thousands of trillion rupiah.
He emphasized that the food policy was the implementation of Article 33 and Article 34 of the 1945 Constitution. The state is obliged to control the important production branch and protect the poor.
Apart from rice, Prabowo said the government had recorded progress on eight food commodities. However, he did not specify the rice reserve figures or the production volume of each commodity.
Prabowo asked the cabinet to remain vigilant. Self-sufficiency should not make the government ignore the issue of distribution, price, and access to food for the poor.
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