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Imported rice starts arriving at various ports
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Workers unload Vietnamese rice at Tenau Port in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara on Feb. 13. (Antara/ Kornelis Kaha)
I
mported rice has started arriving in a number of ports across Indonesia as the commodity price remains above the ceiling set by the government.
State Logistics Agency (Bulog) procurement director Andrianto Wahyu said that 57,000 tons of rice had arrived since Tuesday in three Indonesian ports – Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta (41,000 tons), Merak Port in Banten (6,000 tons) and Tenau Port in East Nusa Tenggara (10,000 tons).
A further 24,750 tons of rice is expected to arrive on Thursday -- 20,000 tons at Panjang Port in Lampung and 4,750 tons would arrive at Benoa Port in Bali --, he said, adding that Bulog was still waiting for the arrival of another 261,000 tons of rice by the end of this month.
Andrianto said that as of Wednesday, the 1,500 tons of rice that arrived at Tenau Port had been stored at Bulog’s warehouse in East Nusa Tenggara. "We will keep [all of] the rice at Bulog’s East Nusa Tenggara warehouse [before being distributed],” he said as reported by tribunnews.com.
The workers were still unloading the rice that had arrived at Tanjung Priok and Merak was also still in the unloading process, he added.
Currently, Andrianto said the Bulog rice stock stood at 630,000, including the government rice reserve.
The government’s decision to import rice sparked controversy as a number of regional leaders opposed the imports, arguing that their farmers produced enough rice. (bbn)
