Jakarta, June 14 (Antara) - The stocks of various essential food
commodities, including rice which is a staple food for the Indonesian
people, are adequate to meet the people's needs in view of the upcoming
Ied Fitr or Lebaran festivities.
The State Logistics Board (Bulog) currently has 2.1 million tons of
rice in stock, sufficient to meet people's requirement for the coming
seven months. "Bulog has some 2.1 million tons of rice stock. The
people's monthly rice requirement is some 300 thousand tons," Bulog
Procurement Director Wahyu has stated.
To meet the need for
other commodities, the Agriculture Ministry is organizing massive market
operations in 4,000 locations throughout Indonesia, aimed at keeping
prices of staple foods stable.
"We are carrying out massive market operations in 4,000 locations in
Indonesia daily. A short term solution is a massive operation ahead of
Ied Fitr Muslim holiday," Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman pointed
out while observing the launch of a market operation in Pasar Minggu,
South Jakarta, on Sunday (June 12).
During the market operation at Pasar Minggu, commodities such as rice,
shallots, cooking oil, red chili and sugar were sold. Housewives swarmed
the premises of the horticulture office to buy basic necessities being
sold at prices below regular market prices.
As part of the market operations, beef was sold at Rp75,000 per
kilogram (kg), shallots at Rp25,000 per kg, cooking oil at Rp11,000 per
liter, rice at Rp7,500 per kg, red chili at Rp18,000 per kg and
essential commodity packages at Rp25,000 per package.
The commodity packages contain 2 kg of rice, 1 liter of cooking oil, 1 kg of sugar and 3 packs of instant noodles.
Minister Amran noted that residents could purchase basic necessities at
very low prices during such market operations. Beef was sold at
Rp75,000 per kg, lower than Rp80,000 per kg which is what President Joko
Widodo had requested.
"One should not think of only beef when it comes to food commodities.
There are at least nine food commodities, apart from beef, such as rice.
Beef is being sold at Rp75,000 per kg. So, the president's request is
being implemented," Amran explained.
The minister stated that the ongoing market operations would be carried
out continuously, not just during the Ramadan fasting month, till
commodity prices became stable.
"The market operations will be carried out not only during the fasting
month but till a new market structure is created," the minister assured.
On the occasion, Minister Sulaiman and Industry Minister Saleh Husain
inspected bazaars organized by the Ministry of Agriculture at Pasar
Minggu and Pasar Cipete, South Jakarta.
The bazaar activities are being held to help bring down soaring food commodity prices during Ramadan.
Regarding rice, Bulog assured stocks reached 2.1 million tons that is
sufficient to meet the people's requirement for the coming seven months.
"Bulog has some 2.1 million tons of rice stock. The people's monthly
rice requirement is some 300 thousand tons," Bulog Procurement Director
Wahyu stated during the visit of House Speaker Ade Komarudin and his
party members to Bulog at Kelapa Gading, East Jakarta, on Tuesday (June
7).
Wahyu noted that the rice stock was stored at Bulog's warehouses in its regional divisions across the country.
In order to prevent a hike in the price of rice during the fasting
month of Ramadan and Lebaran festivities, Bolog will conduct rice
market operations at traditional markets by offering a price of Rp7.9
thousand per kilogram (kg).
"For a month now, Bulog is preparing some 170 thousand tons of rice to
be sold to the public through market operations to control price hikes,"
he remarked.
A rice dealer at the Cipinang rice wholesale market pointed out that
the price of premium rice there was earlier recorded at Rp11.5 thousand
per kg, but now, it had begun to go down.
Wahyu stated that the rice market operations were conducted to control
the prices in the short term. For the long run, Bulog will improve its
distribution lines, so the costs involved in supplying rice could be
kept in check.
In the meantime, businesses through the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (Kadin) also assured their commitment to provide food
commodities and best services for consumers in the current fasting of
Ramadan and its subsequent Lebaran festivities.
Therefore, Kadin called on consumers to not panic about the
availability of food commodities during the ongoing fasting month.
"Business
players pay serious attention to supplies so that consumers do not have
to worry. There is no need to panic," Kadin Chairman Rosan P Roeslani
told a press conference here on Tuesday.
He cautioned the people to exercise wisdom and not fall in the trap of any trade speculator.
The Kadin chairman pointed out that in view of the fasting month and
Lebaran festivities, businesses actually compete to provide the best
they can. This can be seen in the form of promotional prices and
discounts being offered as part of their special Lebaran packages.
"The fasting month and Lebaran are two great occasions that receive
special attention from businesses," the Kadin chairman observed.
Therefore, he hoped that all commodities needed by the people would
remain in good supply.
Kadin Deputy Chairman for trade affairs Benny Soetrisno also urged the
people not to panic about prices of food commodities.
He reminded that the one commodity which always becomes the hottest
issue during the fasting month is beef. Usually, chicken prices remain
only one-third of the beef price.
About raw materials such wheat flour, the Kadin Chairman for food
resilience, Franciscus Welirang, assured the people of adequate supplies
till the end of the year.
"The price of wheat is quite stable and there are adequate stocks. The
2,579 traditional markets in Indonesia have this commodity, while 392
markets in Jakarta also stock it," Franciscus added.***3***A014/INE)EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 14-06-2016 20:49: |
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