Papuans Are Urged To Be Frugal To Anticipate Staple Deficits When Pandemic

Papuans Are Urged To Be Frugal To Anticipate Staple Deficits When Pandemic

The Provincial Government (Pemprov) of Papua has prepared several steps to anticipate the food deficit during the new corona virus pandemic or Covid-19. So far, most of the food in Papua is supplied from East Java and South Sulawesi.

Deputy Governor of Papua Klemen Tinal ensured that rice stocks in the Bulog warehouse were still sufficient to meet the needs for the next four months.

"From our coordination meeting and physical checks that already exist, Bulog and others, we are still capable of the next four months," he said in Jayapura, Wednesday (4/29/2020).

Klemen asked the community to prepare themselves. This is because the provinces that normally supply staples to Papua have implemented large-scale social restrictions (PSBB). He hopes that the community will save food use during the pandemic.

"We urge the public to save staples as much as possible and use local ingredients," he said.

The use of local food, continued Klemen, can also help farmers through the corona virus pandemic well. According to him, farmers will not lose income if people choose to consume local food. "People must be wise in shopping for local ingredients," he said.

In addition, Klemen ensured that the Papua Provincial Government would try to supply food from regions whose agricultural output was still surplus. To secure this, the Papua Provincial Government has asked PT Pelni to prepare its ship to transport food.

"We had a meeting yesterday with all parties, we have confirmed to Pelni to be ready if there is an emergency situation we need groceries for the benefit of the community. Pelni has no problem just asking us to write to the Director General of Sea Transportation and we have done that," Klemen said.