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Jokowi blames floods for rice shortages
The National Police have been deployed to monitor rice distribution in the country.
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Workers transport rice at Cipinang Central Rice Market in East Jakarta, on March 15, 2021. (JP/Yulianto Catur Nugroho/wen)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has rejected claims that rice shortages in the past week were caused by the postponement of rice aid due to the general election on Feb. 14, saying that the problem was caused by floods occurring in rice-producing regions.
The government had stopped rice aid, which is part of the social assistance (Bansos) distributed by the government to poor families since the start of the year, from Feb. 8 to 14 after allegations that the President had used the state-funded program to influence people to vote for presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto.
The National Food Agency (Bapanas) said the postponement was designed to refute the allegations about politicization of the commodity ahead of the election. Only days after the postponement, rice shortages were reported in Jakarta and other provinces, causing speculation that the rice aid had been taken from the general stock managed by state-owned logistics agency Bulog.
The government resumed the delivery of rice aid on Thursday.
Jokowi said there was no correlation between the ongoing rice shortages at retail stores and the rice aid from Bansos.
“There is no correlation [between the two]. In fact, [rice aid] may help to control [stocks and prices],” he said on Thursday during his visit to Cipinang Central Rice Market in East Jakarta.
He further explained that the ongoing rice shortages were caused by delayed distribution as several production hubs such as Demak, Central Java, were recently flooded.
