Stabilization of Food Prices Done in Structured Manner
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JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The government, together with state-run logistics firm Perum Bulog, has made structured efforts to stabilize food prices through market operations in Jakarta and other regions throughout the archipelago. The market operation is carried out in traditional markets and through Rumah Pangan Kita (Our Food House), which is the government’s food outlet.
The government will soon issue a regulation on reference prices at the famers and consumers’ level. The regulation is a replacement of Trade Ministry Regulation No. 63/2016 on the setting of reference buying prices at the farmer level and reference selling prices at the consumer level.
“We hope that sellers do not play with the prices. The stocks in the warehouse must be distributed quickly because it is under the supervision of the food task unit. We also ask sellers to comply with the price of basic foodstuffs that has been set by the government,” Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita said at the launch of the Food Stabilization Movement in Jakarta on Wednesday (17/5).
The Food Stabilization Movement is one of the efforts carried out by the government and Perum Bulog to maintain stock stability and food prices. The basic commodities that will be distributed by Perum Bulog are rice, sugar, red onion, garlic, cooking oil and frozen beef.
According to Enggartiasto, the stock that the government has is enough to meet the needs of the people up until Idul Adha in September. Should there be a shortage of stock, the government will distribute commodities to regions that have run out of stock.
“The sellers that do not comply with the price set by the government will face the Business Competition Supervisory Commission. Meanwhile, sellers that are found to be hoarding stock in their warehouses will see legal action taken against them,” he said.
On Wednesday, the food task unit raided a garlic warehouse in Cilincing, Jakarta, because the business owner was suspected of hoarding 182 tons of garlic.
Reference price
Perum Bulog executive director Djarot Kusumayakti said that Bulog had 2 million tons of rice, 320,000 tons of sugar, 37,500 tons of frozen beef and 207,000 liters of cooking oil. Bulog has also prepared 60 tons of red onion and 62 tons of garlic for market operations all across Indonesia. “Specifically for red onion and garlic, the stock will continue to increase through both local and imported supply,” he said.
Meanwhile, director general of domestic trade at the Trade Ministry, Tjahya Widayanti, said the replacement regulation for Trade Ministry regulation No. 63/2016 is being processed at the Law and Human Rights Ministry. The regulation is targeted to be ratified next week. The regulation will become the basis for reference buying and selling prices during Ramadhan and Lebaran.
In a number of regions, the price stabilization program through market operations was carried out on Wednesday. The food price stabilization program is set to be carried out up until a few days after Idul Fitri.
However, the price of garlic in some regions is still high. In Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, for example, the price of garlic has continued to rise. Last week, the price of garlic was still Rp 60,000 per kilogram, but rose to Rp 70,000 per kg this week. Mince Ratu, 45, a seller at Oeba Market, Kupang city, said she had started to deal with the price hikes by selling garlic per clove.
“I sell one clove of garlic for Rp 3,000 or five cloves for Rp 15,000. In fact, I even serve those who want to buy half a clove for Rp 1,500. Consumers can choose,” Mince said.
Chili farmer coordinator at Secang district, Magelang regency, Central Java, Tunov Mondro Atmodjo, said one of the efforts undertaken to restrict the role of middlemen was by hosting meetings between traders and farmers. An increase in prices ahead of Ramadhan is inevitable. However, through such meetings, prices can be controlled and increases can be contained to less than 10 percent.