Eight Officials Removed Over Subsidized Rice Repackaging Scandal, Nine Private Actors Prosecuted
Subsidized rice bought at Rp12,500 per kilogram was found resold at Rp17,000, with alleged volumes of 600 tonnes at a single Jakarta market; 10 officials were disciplined and one suspect has been named.
Food Minister and National Food Agency head Andi Amran Sulaiman has disclosed large-scale repackaging of subsidized SPHP rice, bought at Rp12,500 per kilogram and resold at Rp17,000, in East Jakarta and at the Cipinang central rice market, with an alleged 600 tonnes involved at one location. Disciplinary action has hit 10 officials at Bulog and the food agency — eight removed and two given warnings — while nine private actors face legal proceedings, with one named a suspect, according to reporting by ANTARA and corroborating coverage from Liputan6 on October 30.
The minister framed the practice as a threat to national food price stability, and the aftermath points to a governance shift rather than a one-off criminal case: expectations now center on tighter distribution tracking and the digitalization of government food business processes. The episode touches a distribution network serving tens of millions of beneficiaries each month, and further regulatory measures on program-rice distribution are widely anticipated as the enforcement process continues.