Subsidized Fertilizer Irregularities Present Since Planning Stage

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

Workers transport subsidized fertilizer at the Kujang Fertilizer Warehouse in Karawang Regency, West Java, Wednesday (4/10/2017).

Irregularities in the subsidized fertilizer program are allegedly occurring from the upstream to the downstream, from inaccurate fertilizer allocations to misappropriation using various means during their distribution.

BANYUASIN, KOMPAS — Irregularities in subsidized fertilizers have occurred since the beginning of the planning stage to distributions in the field. Some parties are suspected of deliberately inserting inaccurate data while drafting their fertilizer allocation proposal, with the fraud perpetuated through to the distribution channels.

A Kompas investigation has revealed that the electronic data in the Definitive Plan for Group Needs (e-RDKK) have been manipulated in a number of regions. The RDKK documents the fertilizer needs of farmers’ groups in each region, and is used to determine the allocation of subsidized fertilizers to each region.

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In practice, it appears that the RDKK data have been manipulated from the outset. In Banyuasin regency, South Sumatra province, vendors work together with farmers’ groups to manipulate the e-RDKK. Udin (not his real name), a seller in Banyuasin, asked the farmers’ groups to collect the identity cards (KTPs) of deceased members for inclusion in the e-RDKK.

"I'm looking for people who have died. The important thing is that they have an ID card. If they do, and it is still registered with the RDKK, you can get [an allocation]," Udin said on Sunday (16/1/2022).

This happens because the data verification is not applied strictly.

Last year, 37 dead people were included in the e-RDKK of one village in Banyuasin. The same data manipulation was found in Tuban, East Java. Some people, even those in their teens, were included in the e-RDKK. This happens because the data verification is not applied strictly.

Some farmers are also passive in the planning stage. They only submit their KTP and entrust the process to the farmers’ group administrator and agriculture field workers (PPLs). In some areas, farmers are unaware of the amount of fertilizer they have been allocated. “So the data is there, at the distributor’s. We just have to go get it [the fertilizer],” said Tarno (56), a farmer in Tuntang district, Semarang regency, Central Java.

Data manipulation in the RDKK was found in almost all regions, according to the Indonesia Ombudsman in December 2021, which found that 369,688 dead people had been included in the initial e-RDKK data.

ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

Farmers transport subsidized fertilizer at a kiosk, Panguragan District, Cirebon Regency, West Java, Wednesday (6/1/2021).

A report on an Indonesia Ombudsman study into the management of subsidized fertilizers revealed a discrepancy in the data on the single identity number (NIK) in the provinces of Aceh, South Sumatra and Banten. As a result, even the farmers listed in the RDKK were not receiving subsidized fertilizers, although Agriculture Ministerial Regulation No. 49/2020 stipulates that subsidized fertilizers be distributed only to farmers registered in the RDKK.

Decisive

According to Indonesia Ombudsman member Yeka Hendra Fatika, planning plays an important role in determining the success of the subsidized fertilizer program. Inaccurate data resulted in off-target fertilizer allocations. "Distortions can occur when the data is inaccurate," said Yeka.

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At the distribution level, subsidized fertilizers are leaked through unofficial channels, apparently due to illicit elements in the official distribution channels as well as other parties. The Kompas investigation found that subsidized fertilizer distribution was dominated by middlemen, brokers, joki (runners) and bos (ringleaders) in the regencies of Tuban, Nganjuk (East Java), Indramayu and Bandung (West Java). None were part of the official distribution channel.

Threat to farmers

Ali Jamil, the director general of agriculture infrastructure and facilities (PSP) at the Agriculture Ministry, believes that syndicates were behind the subsidized fertilizer fraud in several regions in a very structured operation that was threatening and detrimental to farmers. "I hope that these syndicates are thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators are punished severely," he said.

Meanwhile, PT Pupuk Indonesia was prepared to take firm action against authorized distributors and kiosks that were found to be violating the procedures for distributing subsidized fertilizers.

"For distributors and kiosks found guilty [of violations], the sanctions range from the administrative to revoking their operating licenses," said Wijaya Laksana, Pupuk Indonesia’s senior vice president of corporate communications.

Kompas/Adrian Fajriansyah

Illustration: PT Sriwidjaya fertilizer factory in Palembang, South Sumatra.

Sudin, the chairman of House of Representatives (DPR) Commission IV, has asked Pupuk Indonesia to take responsibility for the leak of subsidized fertilizers through unauthorized channels. This was because distributors and kiosks were appointed under the authority of Pupuk Indonesia.

"We have repeatedly asked for annual evaluations from the official distributors and kiosks," he said in Jakarta on Thursday (27/1).

Sudin added that he would summon the firm’s board of directors to a meeting on the matter. He also called for tighter supervision of collecting RDKK data by the Fertilizers and Pesticides Supervisory Commission, along with adequate funding, as well as applying the regional commodity priority to the distribution of subsidized fertilizers. (DVD/FAI/IRE/RAM/NDY)

(This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswo)