Jokowi Asks For Inter-provincial Food Distribution Not To Be Disturbed

President Joko Widodo (Photo: Twitter @jokowi)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo has asked for the distribution of staple foods and food between provinces and between islands not to be disturbed due to the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) policy to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

In front of his ministers, Jokowi said that he could report that the distribution of staple foods and food was disrupted as a result of the implementation of the PSBB.

"I will continue to check, because with the implementation of PSBB from several provinces, districts / cities, I heard that one or two began to be disturbed, especially with regard to aircraft transportation," Jokowi said when opening the meeting regarding the anticipation of basic needs which was broadcast on the YouTube account of the Presidential Secretariat. , Tuesday, April 28.

Based on this report, the former Governor of DKI Jakarta asked his ranks of ministers to continue to monitor the distribution of these staple foods and food.

Moreover, Jokowi said he had also received reports of a number of provinces with deficits in staple foods and food.

"The reports I received for deficit rice stock in seven provinces, deficit corn stock in 11 provinces, deficit large chilies in 23 provinces, deficit cayenne pepper in 19 provinces, shallot stock deficit in one province and deficit chicken egg stock in 22 provinces, "he explained.

"The stock for cooking oil is sufficient for 34 provinces, but sugar stocks are deficit in 30 provinces, and garlic stocks are estimated to be deficit in 31 provinces," Jokowi added.

On that occasion, Jokowi also asked his ministers to pay attention to the management of domestic rice management by taking into account the rice stock in the community, mills, warehouses, and Bulog.

According to him, this management is important to anticipate and mitigate the food crisis in the midst of a pandemic like now.

"We hope that the peak harvest season will be in April for our rice production, yesterday I got a report that it could reach 5.62 million tons, this is good," he said while ordering Bulog to continue to buy unhulled rice from farmers at a reasonable price.

"Please calculate the possibility of a long drought in 2020, even though the BMKG predicts that there will be no extreme weather, we still have to watch out, especially regarding the availability of our national rice," he concluded.