JAKARTA | President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has requested that each ministry focus on only five programs. In line with this, one of the focuses of the Ministry of Trade is to develop the Warehouse Receipt System (SRG) and the Commodity Auction Market (PLK). "This is because the SRG and auction market align with the President's vision of developing from the periphery, directly benefiting farmers," said the Head of the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti) of the Ministry of Trade, Bachrul Chairi, in a statement in Jakarta on Monday (July 18, 2016).
Bachrul added that farmers must earn better income or see an increase in their earnings through the SRG. "Likewise, the auction market ensures that farmers receive the best price certainty for their harvested commodities," he continued. According to Bachrul, President Jokowi has also instructed governors and regents across Indonesia to participate in developing SRG in their respective regions.
"Following the President's directive, the Ministry of Trade is preparing a large-scale national meeting on SRG. The plan is for this national-level meeting to be officially opened by the President in September," he explained.
This meeting will also launch a more advanced SRG pilot project than the existing ones. One of the key advancements includes SRG implementation in warehouses equipped with facilities to increase the added value of the commodities stored by farmers.
"For this reason, SRG warehouses designated as pilot projects will be equipped with facilities beyond the minimum requirements. Previously, the minimum warehouse facilities included a dryer or drying floor. Now, we are adding a rice milling unit (RMU), a rice sorting and whitening machine, and transportation equipment such as trucks for delivery," he added. He further explained that the pilot project will focus on two of the eight SRG warehouses located in West Java. These eight warehouses are already capable of operating SRG online.
"For this initiative, Bappebti is collaborating with PT Pos Indonesia, utilizing the network of 4,200 branch offices owned by PT Pos Indonesia. This is already an asset for our collaboration, in addition to using an application system developed by PT Pos," he concluded. (Source: okezone.com)