Market traders in Surabaya complain that it is difficult to get Bulog’s medium rice

Surabaya, Armfalcon.com —

Rice medium from the Logistics Affairs Agency (Bulog) in the Surabaya market was reportedly empty, even though the highest retail price (HET) had been raised by the government.

The vacancy was revealed by a number of traders in the Surabaya market. A number of rice traders at the Surabaya traditional market admit that they are still having trouble getting rice supplies from Bulog.

“It’s been almost 3 weeks that medium rice stocks from Bulog have never appeared on the market. In fact, many buyers are looking for it because the quality is good and the price is relatively cheap,” said Bambang, a rice trader at Customs Market, Surabaya, Tuesday (14/4) ).

The same thing was also expressed by several rice traders in other traditional markets in Surabaya. They said the vacancy of Bulog’s medium rice stocks in the Surabaya market had been going on for some time and affected the availability of rice in the area.

“[Beras medium] Bulog, two months baseball ono (none). The usual price is IDR 36,000 per three kilograms of plain rice. From the government, I don’t know ono (never existed). Many are looking for it, because the price is cheap, the rice is pretty good,” said Putri, a staple food seller at the Addrejo Market, Surabaya.

However, the head of Perum Bulog, East Java Regional Office, Ermin Tora, denied the traders’ complaints. He claimed that Bulog had routinely distributed rice to markets with the local government.

Because of this step, he is sure that the supply of rice to the market is safe.

He added that apart from pouring rice into the market, Bulog is now focusing on stabilizing rice prices at the farm level, which is currently in the big harvest season. This is done so that farmers can get a profitable selling price for their grain.

Due to the harvest, Bulog does not supply too much rice to the market.

“Last March 2023 coincided with the main harvest in the East Java region. So we hope that the market will be supplied more by rice which is the result of the main harvest in East Java,” said Tora.

[Gambas:Video CNN]

Tora explained that at the time of the main harvest, Bulog focused on stabilizing the producer level, not on consumers. Therefore, stocks in the market are not left empty, but are filled with farmers’ crops.

During the main harvest season, he said, Bulog also absorbs and buys more farmers’ produce. He also added that Bulog does not regulate transactions other than Bulog brand rice on the market.

“Rice stocks in the market will be supplied from the main harvest. During the main harvest, Bulog focuses a lot on absorbing it, not releasing it to the market,” he said.

Most recently, he said, rice harvested from farmers had also been distributed to traders at Wonokromo Market, Surabaya. So, later it will also be distributed to other markets in Surabaya.

“Yesterday we have started to supply rice from the harvest to Wonokromo by looking at the existing conditions,” he stated.

(frd/agt)

[Gambas:Video CNN]