T

he Jakarta administration'€™s food security measures may be hampered after a planned Rp 50 billion (US$3.59 million) capital injection for city-owned slaughterhouse PD Dharma Jaya was scrapped.

Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama expressed his anger after the allocation for Dharma Jaya was completely scrapped, although he had requested that the firm be given extra capital due to its role in maintaining food security in the city.

Ahok said the allocation might have been scrapped by the administration'€™s budgetary team, which consists of the city secretary, the city'€™s financial and asset management board (BPKAD) and the Jakarta Development Planning Board.

'€œI'€™ve said time and again that Dharma Jaya must receive the capital injection. It plays an important role in maintaining beef supply, especially during Idul Fitri, when prices soar,'€ Ahok told reporters at City Hall recently.

'€œI don'€™t understand why they scrapped the allocation. We will have to wait for the revised budget to give a capital injection to Dharma Jaya. Meanwhile, it will have to seek loans from a bank for beef supply for Idul Fitri,'€ Ahok said.

The revised budget is normally approved in August, while Idul Fitri this year is expected to fall in July.

Over the years, Dharma Jaya'€™s performance has continued to decline due to corruption within the company under previous directors.

Ahok said the city administration had planned a total overhaul of PD Dharma Jaya'€™s business and return it to its function of providing beef for Jakarta.

Ahok said that with Dharma Jaya'€™s involvement in the business, meat could be sold at a lower price in Jakarta, especially at traditional markets where most customers are from lower-class households.

Separately, BPKAD head Heru Budi Hartono reprimanded Dharma Jaya for being late in submitting their investment analysis report to the Home Affairs Ministry. Without the report, the city administration may not give capital injections to city-owned firms.

However, according to Article 16 of Home Ministry Regulation No. 52/2012 on regional investment management, the BPKAD as regional treasurer is tasked with drafting and submitting an investment analysis report to the ministry.

Dharma Jaya president director Marina Ratna Dwi Kusumadjati said the company could not seek bank loans, as it was blacklisted by Bank Indonesia since 1996 as former directors failed to pay an initial debt of Rp 4 billion to city-owned lender Bank DKI. Over the years, the company'€™s debt has increased to Rp 17 billion with interest.

Marina said she had done her part of the job by proposing a request for capital injection with the BPKAD and discussing her plan with city authorities. Dharma Jaya is the only city-owned firm to have its application for a 2016 capital injection rejected.

A bylaw to approve Jakarta'€™s 2016 budget at Rp 67.1 trillion was approved last week. The budget includes more than Rp 7 trillion in government investment participation (PMP) in various city-owned firms.

Marina said the Rp 50 billion in capital injection had been intended to fund cattle-breeding in Banten, renovate cold storage facilities and slaughterhouses, among others. She said Dharma Jaya currently had about Rp 60 billion in capital, but those funds had already been allocated for other purposes.

'€œFor the time being, we will use the funds we have efficiently. We will submit a new request for a capital injection in the revised budget,'€ Marina told The Jakarta Post.