T

he City Council has passed a bylaw on city-owned food security supplier PT Food Station Tjipinang Jaya and will inject the company with Rp 1.5 trillion (US$129.7 million).

Regional Legislation Body (Balegda) member Cinta Mega told the plenary session on Friday that Tjipinang Jaya had been a de facto city-owned firm since 1968 based on a gubernatorial decree.

Cinta said, however, that the bylaw was essential as according to Law No. 32/2004 on regional government, the formation of any city-owned company must be based on a bylaw.

'€œThe bylaw is the operational legal basis of the company, dejure,'€ she said.

Cinta of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said the firm, which is 74.6 percent owned by the city administration, aimed to maintain food security in the capital city so the price of food would remain affordable.

'€œWe hope the capital injection will strengthen the role the company plays in maintaining the market price and the flow of food,'€ she said.

She said the company could also conduct the trade and procurement of rice and secondary crops.

The approval plenary meeting for the bylaw actually did not reach the quorum, as only half the council attended.

However, the plenary, led by Deputy Speaker Triwisaksana of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and Boy Sadikin of the PDI-P, passed the bylaw after only one interruption.

The interruption came from Democratic Party member Joni Wenas who suggested that the bylaw should also ensure the firm would focus on maintaining food security in Jakarta, not merely just pursuing profit.

Jakarta depends on neighboring provinces like West Java and Lampung for its food supply.

Jakarta Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo previously signed an agreement with the Lampung administration to expand agribusiness.

Jokowi pointed out that Lampung had the capacity to meet the needs of the capital'€™s over 10 million residents.

He added that the cooperation would boost Lampung'€™s local production.