A STUDY ON THE UNLAWFUL ACT IN SUBSIDIZED FERTILIZER SALES IN BLANG PIDIE

This research set aims to (1) examine the factors motivating the businessmen to sell the subsidized fertilizer beyond its highest retail price, (2) analyze the legal consequences of the unlawful act, and (3) the government efforts to minimize the violation. This research is an empirical legal study, and the data were gathered through library research and interviews with respondents. The results exhibit that (1) the unlawful act was committed for getting high profit, prepaid income, fertilizer limited supply, customer ignorance of highest retail price policy, and transportation expenses, (2) the legal consequences of the unlawful act was that the businessmen were obliged to compensate the customers, and (3) the local government issued a warning letter to the subsidized fertilizer distributors about terminating their contract with an obligation to compensate the customers and provide regulation socialization to related parties.

namely Blang (rice field) and Pidie (one of the districts in Aceh). It was called Blangpidie because in the past there were many rice fields belong to uleebalangs from Pidie who settled in Kuta Batee (the old name of Blangpidie) (Wikipedia, 2022).
One of the primary requirements in earning a living for farmers is fertilizer.
Due to its strategic importance, the supply of affordable fertilizer is essential.
Fertilizer was a critical strategic component in increasing productivity and was an inseparable component of the farming system in the context of agricultural development (Supyandi, 2021). Due to rapid population growth and the resulting use pressure, agricultural soils must maintain adequate levels of quantity and quality to produce food, fiber, and energy without suffering detrimental effects on their nutrient balance, health, or functionality (Pavel Krasilnikov, 2022).
During the twentieth century, the consumption of fertilizers increased dramatically. The quantity for fertilizer nutrients was thought to be about 20 million tons in 1950, compared to approximately 190 million tons in 2019 and 2020 (Alina Ilinova, 2021). Fertilizers feed the world by boosting and enhancing the fertility of the soil, which in turn nourishes crop plants. No nation in the world has been able to increase agricultural output without increasing fertilizer usage (Barber, 2017).
Without biotechnology, improved genetics, and fertilizer, the world will not be able to reach its food production goals (Roberts, 2009). Fertilizer is a means of production in the agricultural sector that plays a significant role in enhancing the productivity and production of agricultural commodities; consequently, fertilizers play a very strategic role in the context of the success of the food self-sufficiency program (rice) (Widjaja, 2015) .
Agriculture advancements have long been theorized to promote labor shifts to higher productivity sectors with higher real incomes (John W. McArthur, 2017).
To increase crop yields, the Government of Indonesia has enacted a number of policies, including the provision of production infrastructure, the provision of aid and subsidies for production facilities, the provision of farmland counselling services, and the implementation of basic price regulations for certain agricultural commodities (Eddy Junaidi, 2020). Although fertilizer is a primary need in improving the harvest, it requires some amount of spending, which is a problem for most farmers. Therefore, the government intended to help farmers minimize their expenses and improve their harvest, and the government also consider that fertilizer plays a significant role in improving farmer's productivity and commodity production to actualize the national food security program (Eddy Junaidi, 2020).
The Government of Indonesia allocated a significant amount of public funds to the agricultural sector, the second largest allocation in the economic sector after the transportation sector (Arham, 2020). The agricultural sector is very significant to support the Indonesian economy. About 18 percent of the national gross domestic product could provide staple food and employ 70 percent of the total population of 215 million (or 44 percent of the workforce) (fao.org, 2005). The roles of the agricultural sector include a source of income for the state exchange, job vacancy, economic competitiveness, and added value, home staple food, the raw material for local industries, improvement in sustainable natural resource management (Heliaantoro and Juwana, 2018). Based on the Minister of Agriculture Regulation, subsidized fertilizer is the fertilizer procured and distributed with highest retail price at the authorized distributor. However, farmers, as the beneficiary of the program, do not have access to such price. They frequently discovered that the price exceeds the highest retail price, and that the distribution technique is ineffective. Based on the prevailing regulation, the procurement and distribution of subsidized fertilizer have been regulated with a highest retail price through official retailers.
In distributing the subsidized fertilizer, distributors select retailers, and farmers who are registered in Rancangan Definitif Kebutuhan Kelompok Tani (RDKK) as subsidized fertilizer buyers purchase the fertilizer from the retailers. The relationship between retailers and farmers is to sign a statement letter (Nuraini, Instrumen Kebijakan Pupuk Bersubsidi Bagi Petani Indonesia, 2007). It containing the following agreements, namely retailers is willing to write and sign a statement letter stating that the retailer has the capacity to become an official retailer for subsidized fertilizer under a one-year contract and signed with a duty stamp, and retailers agree to have its retailer contract terminated and be accountable if there is a legal violation related to the distribution (Nuraini, Instrumen Kebijakan Pupuk Bersubsidi Bagi Petani Indonesia, 2007). This letter is a part of efforts made by the government to maintain the supply of fertilizer for farmers with a standard price predetermined by the governmentn (Nuraini, Instrumen Kebijakan Pupuk Bersubsidi Bagi Petani Indonesia, 2007).
Many obstacles remained during the application of fertilizer subsidies, such as fertilizer scarcity and prices above highest retail price (Supyandi, 2021). The problems are caused by businessmen who accumulate the supply in excess of reasonable need for resale at inflated prices, so those with adequate capital can easily buy the fertilizer compared to the less fortunate farmers (Supyandi, 2021).
The distribution procedure has been set by the government to ensure that it can be carried out as expected. However, many unlawful procedures were found. The fertilizer, which is intended for farmers, is bought by market speculators. Even though the price of subsidized fertilizer has been set by the government, farmers frequently discover that retailers sell fertilizer at a higher prices (Kementerian Pertanian Republik Indonesia., n.d. A case in Blang Pidie shows that subsidized fertilizer is sold beyond the highest retail price. It is directly impacts the production cost that the farmers need to spend and making the farmers suffer from financial loss. This research was conducted to prove to all parties, particularly government agencies, that they should generate concrete actions to combat the unlawful act in the sale of subsidized fertilizer, so by doing these measures, they will eliminate losses to farmers, and also for the maintaining food security, particularly the avalaibility of rice in Aceh.

RESEARCH METHODS
This research uses an empirical juridical method. The data was obtained from field and library research. Field research was conducted through interviews with respondents and informants to obtain primary data, while library research aims to obtain secondary data, which is done by reviewing or studying the laws, books, papers, and documents related to the problems that discussed in this study.

A. Factors motivating the unlawful act in subsidized fertilizer sale beyond its highest retail price
Based on the research result, the factors which caused the unlawful act of selling the subsidized fertilizer beyond its highest retail price are as follows:

To make a higher profit
In selling subsidized fertilizer, the fertilizer retailers increased the price higher than the standard price, that is, the price predetermined by the material. In increasing the price, the fertilizer is distributed to the authorized retailers who sell the fertilizer at a higher price to make a bigger profit, making farmers protest because of the high price they have to spend on fertilizer (Habibi, A Study on the Unlawful Act in Subsidized Fertilizer Sales in Blangpidie, 2020).

To make farmers pay in advance or to pre-order the fertilizer
The subsidized fertilizer sold beyond the highest retail price and limited supply made it difficult for farmers to have access to the fertilizer. The farmers who wanted to buy the fertilizer needed to queue for up to 14 days or more, and make an advance payment or pre-order payment (Imran, A Study on the Unlawful Act in Subsidized Fertilizer Sales in Blangpidie, 2020). If a farmer did not make that payment to obtain the Phonska fertilizer, his or her order could have been canceled or transferred to another farmer.

Limited supply of subsidized fertilizer
The high number of farmers interested in buying subsidized fertilizer, accompanied by limited supply, motivated certain parties to use the opportunity to exploit the farmers for personal gain (Mukhtaruddin, A Study on the Unlawful Act in Subsidized Fertilizer Sales in Blangpidie, 2020) The farmers had to buy the subsidized fertilizer at a high price because if they did not buy it when the fertilizer was unloaded at the retailer, the fertilizer would be out of stock (Saad, A Study on the Unlawful Act in Subsidized Fertilizer Sales in Blangpidie, 2020).

The act and the loss must have a causal relationship.
This is consistent with Von Buri's theory, which states that "the cause of a change is all the conditions that must exist for the effect to occur." The consequences will not occur if one of these conditions is not met, and each of the conditions is a sine qua non for the occurrence of the effect, each condition can be called a cause in and of itself (R. Setiawan, 2007).
According to Munir Fuady, unlawful acts are a collection of legal principles intended to control or regulate dangerous behavior, to assign responsibility for a loss resulting from social interaction, and to provide victims with compensation through a suitable lawsuit (Fuady, 2014). Article 1365 of the Civil Code merely states that a person may file a claim for compensation with the court if he suffers a loss due to an unlawful act committed by another person against him (Agatha, 2018). An unlawful act is defined as any act that violates written rules, is contrary to the legal obligations of the perpetrator, and violates the subjective rights of others, as well as any act that violates unwritten rules that should be owned by a person in the association of life in society or against the property of community members (Yudho, 2017).
The action of selling subsidized fertilizer at a higher price than its highest retail price is classified as one of the unlawful acts since it results in a loss for

CONCLUSION
Based on the research, the Authorized retailers increased the price of subsidized fertilizer to generate big profits, they enforced an advance payment policy, and there were limited fertilizer supply, while farmers did not have adequate knowledge regarding the highest retail price. The result also show, the unlawful act in selling subsidized fertilizer at a high price create the financial loss for farmers, and they did not get any benefits from the program because there is no any compensation of higher fertilizer price selling in the market. There are some efforts taken by the Department of Food and Agriculture in Aceh Barat Daya to minimize the case of subsidized fertilizer sold beyond its highest retail price, namely issued a warning letter to the company that organizes the distribution to suggest termination of the contract with the authorized retailers who sold the subsidized fertilizer beyond its ceiling, socialization the subsidized fertilizer program to businessmen, and coordination between the government and farmers.