Bulog guarantees rice stocks in NTT

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 09/11/2007 2:22 PM

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: The East Nusa Tenggara chapter of the National Logistics Agency, or Bulog, has said it has sufficient rice stocks in the event of harvest failures caused by an extended drought.

Head of the chapter, Wydia, said his office was stockpiling sufficient rice to meet demand in the province through the end of the year.

""Bulog will buy 60,000 tons of rice from Vietnam with the rest coming from East Java.

""More than 95 percent of rice stocks for East Nusa Tenggara come from Surabaya and overseas,"" Wydia said.

He was responding to concerns about a possible food crisis in the province, particularly over the next few months, as a result of harvest failures.

Wydia said Bulog would be able to buy just 7,000 tons of rice from farmers in Manggarai, Ngada and East Sumba this year.

He said that last week Bulog expanded its stocks by another 33,500 tons of rice to meet demand in Flores, Alor, Sumba and Timor. -- JP

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