Reporter: Tempo.co

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Tempo journalists submitted an interview request to Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman through multiple methods and via several of Amran’s associates. Interview request letters were sent to Amran’s private residence in Kalibata, South Jakarta, and to the Tiran Group office in Makassar, South Sulawesi, during November 10-14, 2025.

Security personnel at Amran’s residence, who were dressed in Mobile Brigade uniforms, received Tempo’s letters twice. One guard said the minister’s aide would pass along all letters to Amran. We also waited outside his home for a doorstep interview on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 11 and 12. But Amran and his team did not respond to the interview requests.

The same letter was delivered to the Public Relations and Public Information Bureau of the Agriculture Ministry in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta. The bureau chief, M. Arief Cahyono, did not respond. Tempo also contacted Agriculture Ministry’s Expert Staffer, Muhammad Syakir. “Please contact the public relations team at the Agriculture Ministry,” Syakir said via text message on Thursday, November 13.

A chance for a doorstep interview arose when Amran attended an event titled Indonesia Punya Kamu (Indonesia is Yours) at Sebelas Maret University in Surakarta, Central Java, on Thursday, November 13. Tempo correspondent Septhia Ryanthie managed to request his response to various criticisms from Commission IV of the House of Representatives (DPR)—which oversees, among other matters, agricultural affairs—regarding the ministry’s performance. But Amran quickly left as the next question was about to be asked.

Published Date: November 17, 2025