0 Governor warns of politicking in beef imports scandal

West Nusa Tenggara Governor Zainul Majdi has issued a warning of possible politicking in a high-profile graft scandal centering on the importation of beef, in which former Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq has been named a suspect. Zainul said all relevant stakeholders should give constructive input to regulating the importation of the commodity for the sake of the country’s food resilience. “Indonesia still needs to import beef due to limited supplies of the commodity from the domestic market. 

Importation, however, should be part of the food self-sufficiency program in which we have to reduce our dependency on beef importation in stages to protect domestic supply,” said Zainul on Tuesday. He said the importation of the commodity was a political decision, but that it should not be politicized to avoid any possible political conflict. Under the national meat self-sufficiency program, Indonesia is targeting to meet 90 percent of total meat consumption in the country from domestic supplies. 

“Since 2011, Indonesia has been able to supply 14.8 million cattle to local markets, exceeding the 14.2 million targeted in 2014. With such significant increases in domestic supplies, we have managed to reduce our meat importation,” Zainul went on. Indonesia imported 720,000 cattle in 2009, up from 18,000 in 1990, said Zainul, citing an example. Zainul said the government should also play a bigger role in ensuring a more balanced distribution of beef by setting up zones for meat distribution supplies. 

“East Java, which has 4.7 million or 31.89 percent of the cattle in the country, should be declared a meat production hub responsible for meeting beef consumption needs in Sumatra and Java, while Bali, East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara with a total of 2.1 million cattle should be the production hubs for meat supplies in central and eastern Indonesia,” he said. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has detained Luthfi and three others for their alleged involvement in the graft case concerning the importation of beef from Australia. (ebf)

source : the jakarta post