November 24, 2025 | 04:05 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Chair of Commission IV at Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR), Siti Hediati Hariyadi or Titiek Soeharto, has requested that those involved in the 250-ton illegal rice import in the Aceh region be prosecuted. She said that the government's goal of achieving food self-sufficiency implies that rice imports from Thailand should not have happened. "Whoever it is, we demand that they be legally prosecuted," she said at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, on Monday, November 24, 2025.
Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman previously stated that the government has sealed 250 tons of illegal rice imports that entered through Sabang, Aceh. "We emphasize that the rice has been sealed and we ask the authorities to trace anyone involved," said Amran in a written statement on Sunday, November 23, 2025.
Amran stated that there were irregularities in this import activity. According to him, the minutes of a government coordination meeting in Jakarta on November 14, 2025, showed that the relevant officials rejected the import request.
However, Amran said that the import permit from the country of origin, Thailand, had already been issued. Amran suspected that this finding indicated a planned effort and did not follow the procedures.
He explained that the authorities' action in immediately sealing and halting all illegal rice distribution activities was based on the absence of import permits for the food commodity. Amran said the government is also investigating the parties suspected of involvement, including one of the companies operating in Sabang.
He mentioned that the government is currently exploring the possibility of similar cases in other areas, namely Batam. He has requested the police and relevant agencies to verify and follow up on the report.
Amran said that rice imports are currently an illegal activity. According to Amran, President Prabowo Subianto has emphasized that there is no need to import rice because the national stock of the food commodity is sufficient.
He then included the projections from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) regarding this year's rice production estimate, which reached 34.7 million tons. The government's rice reserves available at the Public Logistics Agency (Bulog) warehouse reached 3.8 million tons.
Based on the rice balance projections for January–December 2026 as of November 5, 2025, Amran estimated that the national rice stock could reach 12.89 million tons by early 2026. According to Amran, this amount constitutes the carryover stock until the end of 2025, which is spread across various lines up to the government's rice reserve stock in the Bulog warehouse.
The food balance projection for Aceh Province shows a rice surplus of 871,400 tons, with 1.53 million tons available and 667,700 tons needed for consumption. Meanwhile, specifically for Sabang, there is a rice surplus of 970 tons with an availability of 5,911 tons and a consumption need of 4,940 tons.
Alfitria Nefi contributed to this article
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