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View all search resultsBulog accuses 'mafia' of manipulating rice for the poor
The government's shift from its rice assistance program (Rastra) to the BPNT has only worsened Bulog’s low rice absorption problems.
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Workers carry sacks of medium-quality rice at a warehouse belonging to the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) in Purwasari, Karawang, West Java. (Antara/M Ibnu Chazar)
C
ircling a sack of rice in front of a house in Central Java, five women winced as one of them cupped her hands to scoop up a sample of the contents and brought it to her nose.
“This bad quality rice,” the woman exclaimed as she flinched at the smell of the rice. “Hopefully, we’ll get better rice next month,” she said in a video shown by State Logistics Agency (Bulog) president director Budi “Buwas” Waseso at his office on Sept. 22.
Buwas claimed the video had been made by a rice "mafia" to badmouth Bulog in response to the agency’s investigation into illicit practices related to the non-cash food assistance program (BPNT), a program worth Rp 60 trillion (US$4.21 billion) aimed at providing rice for the poor.
A joint team comprising agency officials and a special task force under the National Police has identified around 300 fraudulent online shops distributing poor quality rice. Buwas said each shop could earn up to Rp 9 million (US$636.30) every month from the illicit business.
To benefit from the distribution, such e-shop owners could purchase sacks of rice with fake Bulog labels for as little as Rp 1,000 online. They sell medium-quality rice or lower with a premium label. Most of them, Buwas said, put in below the required 10 kilograms of rice per sack to stretch their profit. Culprits would often transform their house or shop into illicit e-shops.
As a result, much of Bulog’s rice is left undistributed. The agency said it had been able to distribute 30,000 tons of rice for the program as of Monday, a far cry from its target of giving out 700,000 tons of rice for the BPNT.
Buwas estimated that Bulog would only be able to channel 150,000 tons by the end of the year.
