Police must 'crack down' on fertilizer hoarding

The provincial legislative council, along with farmers associations, has asked the police to take action against distributors and retailers allegedly involved in the hoarding of fertilizers.

In a coordination meeting here on Monday, the chairman of the Commission B on Agriculture and Trade at the provincial legislative council, Ali Muji, said the police should crack down on distributors and retailers who, due to a reduction in the amount of fertilizer being distributed by the central government, have stashed away the agricultural neccessity. The hoarders plan to sell the product through unlicensed retailers at higher prices later on and a large portion of the provinces allocated fertilizer has gone missing in this way.

"The subsidy is earmarked for farmers in efforts to improve the province's rice production; therefore the police should take stern action against distributors and retailers hoarding the subsidized commodity. Those involved in the smuggling of the subsidized fertilizers to other provinces should be brought to court immediately and their license should be revoked," he said.

The fertilizer crisis has swept almost all regencies, with farmers crying out against closed fertilizer kiosks and urging the government to distribute the product directly to village cooperatives belonging to farmers. The disappearance of subsidized fertilizer has prompted farmers to purchase fertilizers such as Urea, ZA and NPK from unlicensed kiosks at skyrocketing prices.

In Jember, thousands of farmers conducted a sweep of trucks transporting fertilizers along the Northcoast Highway and paid Rp 1,200 per kilogram, according to the local market price, due to the ongoing disappearance of subsidized fertilizers over the past two months.

While cracking down on the alleged hoarding by distributors and retailers, local authorities have decided not to distribute fertilizers to farmers operating in the regency's protected forests.

The commission also asked the governor to order the supervisory board to keep a close eye on the distribution of the fertilizer, saying all sides involved in the manipulation of its distribution should be punished harshly.

Deputy head of the provincial agriculture office Nasikin, said that, despite the reduced allocation, the fertilizers hoarding should not necessarily trigger a crisis, provided the fertilizer is distributed in proportion to the real need among farmers.