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Incompetent policy makers

Jakarta Globe Editorial - August 10, 2015

Company profits take a battering – Jakarta Post. July 31, 2015
Indonesian infrastructure promises derailed by bureaucrats – Reuters. July 19, 2015
ILO warns Indonesia to invest in skilled labor or lose out – Jakarta Globe. July 9, 2015
Local leaders withhold almost $20 billion in state funds before polls – Reuters. July 9, 2015
Rising unemployment piles up problems for Indonesian president – Reuters. June 22, 2015

It's typical Indonesia – or more precisely, it's becoming typical of President Joko Widodo's administration. You simply make a policy based on certain sentiments without valid information, data or reasoning, and then you realize you've made a big mistake and you start shifting blame to others.

In part out of false data that Indonesia has enough beef stock to supply national demand, and in part out of nationalist sentiment to show self-sufficiency and less dependency on foreign supply, the Trade Ministry in July slashed the import quota of Australian cattle – Indonesia's biggest supplier – to just 50,000 head in the third quarter, down from 279,000 head in the previous three months.

Even before cutting the import quota Indonesia struggled to meet local consumption of 305,000 head per month, with stock of only around 200,000 head per month.

So it boggles the mind that Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman can now claim that Indonesia has "sufficient" cattle at feed lots nationwide as the price of the beef skyrockets and sellers stage protests.

The minister defined as domestic consumption as 40,000 head of cattle per month. This figure is not only confusing, it's misleading, and we can't grasp where he's getting his numbers.

Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama hit the nail on the head: Indonesia is just not ready to be self-sufficient in beef supply.

Now the government says it will import more – meaning it realizes it made a mistake at the expense of the public as whole. But still it continues to pass blame, this time to a nebulous "beef mafia" it accuses of stockpiling. If so, the police should just arrest them all because they should be very easy to identify.

Sadly, this is just one example of a policy that will only deteriorate Indonesia's business image further in the midst of Joko's attempts to attract more foreign investment. This farcical episode is just another reason why Joko should review his cabinet, and appoint more competent figures.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/editorial-incompetent-policy-makers/.