Woman: It's dangerous Mr, there's lots of adulterated rice.
Man: It's already a trend! The proof, lots of adulated officials.
Signs read "Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) detainees", "Attorney General's Office detainees".
Speaking during a working meeting at the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission IV in Jakarta, Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman said that the country has suffered losses amounting to 99.35 trillion rupiah due to adulterated rice (beras oplosan) circulating in the market.
"This is just in a year. The numbers will far surpass the 100 trillion rupiah mark if this is traced back to five or ten years ago", he was quoted as saying by Tempo on July 16, adding that the brands producing adulterated rice have been operating for some time.
"Laboratory results show regular rice being sold as premium rice. They just repackage bulk rice, and we have the photographic evidence, which we handed over to law enforcement. Only the prices go up, not the quality", he said. "It's like marketing 18 karat gold as 24 karat", he added.
Sulaiman explained that the losses to the state occurred from rice sold through the Supply and Price Stabilization (SPHP) program which should be cheaper, but has instead was branded as premium rice.
"From the preliminary investigation, it was found that 80 percent of SPHP rice is adulterated as premium, while 20 percent is displayed in stores. This constitutes state losses", he said.
Sulaiman said that the ministry checked and examined 268 rice brands in 10 provinces and found that 85.56 percent of the premium rice did not meet standards, 59.78 percent did not comply with the highest retail price (HET) and 78.14 percent did not comply with the packaging weight.
Meanwhile according to figures cited by former President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, between 2004 and 2022 national anti-corruption efforts resulted in the arrest of 344 members from national and local parliaments, 38 ministers and heads of state agencies, 24 governors, 162 regents and mayors, 31 judges, eight high-ranking election officials, 415 suspects from businesses and 363 suspects from the bureaucracy.
