The sea toll is the key to the distribution of granulated sugar and bulk cooking oil from Belawan, North Sumatra, to Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, according to the Ministry of Transportation.
The sea toll program from the Directorate General of Sea Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation specifically transports supplies from the National Food Agency along with the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry through the SOEs Food Holding ID FOOD and PTPN Group.
"Sea toll has become the solution for equal distribution of food supplies in eastern Indonesia," Acting Director-General of Sea Transportation Mugen Sartoto noted in a statement on Saturday.
In order to address the scarcity of staple goods in the eastern part of Indonesia, continuous and regular shipping is deemed necessary through organizing sea freight transportation to all parts of Indonesia, Sartoto emphasized.
He is upbeat that this form of synergy would continue to run in future.
"This is so that the benefits felt by the community will increase," he remarked.
Head of the National Food Agency (NFA) Arief Prasetyo Adi stated that this step was aimed at providing food and supporting cost efficiency in food logistics to eastern Indonesia.
He noted that the distribution of bulk cooking oil and sugar by optimizing sea toll facilities is a solution for ensuring the availability of food commodities and stabilizing food prices, especially in certain areas, such as eastern Indonesian, where obstacles, including the high logistics costs, impacted the prices of food commodities in the area.
He later drew attention to the Port to Port, Port to Door, and Door to Door methods as a food distribution channel through the sea toll and then to warehouses and thereafter distributed to producers and then to market traders.
"Through this synergy, we hope to be able to realize the convenience of food logistics, especially when cooking oil and sugar are the concern of the government and the public," Adi remarked.
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Meanwhile, an expert staff at the Minister of Transportation, Andre Mulpyana, noted that this sea toll facility is effective for food distribution across Indonesia.
Through this sea toll transportation facility, the Ministry of Transportation also supports food affordability in the outermost, remote, and underdeveloped (3T) regions.
"The MV Asia Pratama ship departed on April 28, 2022, and is estimated to arrive in Kupang on May 8, 2022, with 300 tons of bulk cooking oil and 800 tons of sugar," he noted.
Related news: Gov't supplies sugar, cooking oil to eastern Indonesia via sea toll
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