The Government of Indonesia has started its “Government Rice Reserves for Food Aid 2023” program throughout the country, including the Papua area. For the prompt distribution, the distribution of food aid to Papua using land and air routes.
As noted before, this program is an effort by the Indonesian government to maintain food price stability and suppress inflation spikes in the Indonesian regions. The Distribution of Government Rice Reserves (Government Rice Reserves) for providing food assistance in 2023 was officially launched on April 6, 2023.
However, based on a statement by the head of the National Food Agency (NFA), Arief Prasetyo Adi, this food distribution program has been carried out in stages at the end of March 2023.
In South Sumatra and Bangka Belitung, as well as in East Kalimantan and North Kalimantan, the distribution of rice provided by the government has been handed out in stages. Rice aid has also been supplied to many areas in the provinces of South Sulawesi and West Sulawesi, as well as in the districts of Yogyakarta and Papua-West Papua.
In detail, the government will distribute this assistance from March, April, to May 2023. Overall, the government will distribute the rice distribution assistance to around 60 percent of the total Beneficiary Families (Keluarga Penerima Manfaat), totaling 21.3 million families.
Before Idul Fitri 1444 Hijriah, Indonesia wanted to provide equitable aid. The Indonesian government is working with Pos Indonesia to help 13 million recipient households meet its goal. Pos Indonesia deployed 7,390 heavy trucks and pickups to achieve Indonesian government goals.
In collaboration with Bulog, the total weight of rice distributed by the government is around 130 thousand tons. In particular, each Beneficiary Families will receive aid and a monthly donation of 10 kg of rice.
Collaborating with Pos Indonesia
Pos Indonesia employs both land and air conveyance in Papua to best adapt to the conditions on the ground. The Indonesian government employs these two modes of conveyance to assure the quality and on-time delivery of rice, particularly during the distribution procedure in the Papua region.
Faizal Rochmad, Pos Indonesia Director, told the press that the Indonesian government prioritizes Papua. Given the difficult terrain in the Papua region, Pos Indonesia cannot rely solely on land transportation.
Having challenging and complicated routes, the terrain in Papua is a rationale for using these types of transportation. It is essential to realize that some areas in Papua are challenging to reach by land vehicle. It’s a fact especially compared to other parts of Indonesia.
“Distribution in Papua reaches remote mountainous areas can be reached by land or airplane,” Rochmad remarked on April 7, 2023.
Faizal Rochmad Djoemadi stresses that large vehicles with capacities of up to 20 tons are an option for urban locations. In the meantime, the government will also use smaller vehicles. Small vehicles, such as pickup trucks with cargoes between 6 and 7 tons, will operate in remote regions.
So far, the first phase of rice assistance from the Indonesian government in the Papua region has been distributed. A total of 51,327 beneficiary families in South Papua have received this aid. In short, several areas that have received this first assistance phase are Merauke, Mappi, Boven Digoel, and Asmat.
Conclusion
So far, the government’s rice distribution program is still ongoing. As previously stated, providing rice support will continue until at least May 2023. Pos Indonesia will continue the distribution of food aid to Papua using land and air routes. This rice distribution will continue until Beneficiary Families receive the government aid equally.
