Food & Drug Agency Applies for Loan from World Bank

Friday, 16 November, 2007 | 14:02 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Drug & Food Agency (BPOM) will apply for a US$45 million loan to the World Bank for buying food and drug testing equipment. “The equipment we have now is outdated,” BPOM chairman, Husniah Rubiana Thamrin Akib, told Tempo at the Health Department.

BPOM must look for additional funds, said Husniah, because the allocation of the 2008 State Budget, totaling around Rp500 billion, is insufficient to support BPOM's performance. The amount of the budget allocation must also be used for paying the salary and program in all food & drug monitoring centers throughout Indonesia. The budget is much smaller compared with the operational cost of the Agriculture Department's laboratory which reached Rp1.3 trillion. “Ideally, BPOM's budget is Rp1.5 trillion per year,” said Husniah.

However, a member of the House Health Commission , Rudianto Tjen, asked BPOM to postpone the plan as the government's debt is still a great deal.

He cited that the repayment of this year's loan interest is already around Rp65 trillion. It is estimated that next year the loan interest will reach Rp91 trillion.

“If it really needs additional fund, it can be through the Revised State Budget,” said Rudianto, concurrently a member of Budget Committee. Compared to three years ago, the United Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction politician said, BPOM's budget has already increased quite significantly. “Three years ago, they only had Rp200 billion,” he said.

He said that BPOM can still maximize its performance by budget efficiency. Out of 33 monitoring centers in the regions, not all of those should be given new equipment. It is enough that only major cities be provide with imported goods, such as Jakarta, Surabaya and Medan. So far imported goods testing is carried out in the three cities. As regards regional monitoring centers, they can test only local products.

PRAMONO