Klojen (malangkota.go.id) – Ahead of the arrival of the Holy Month of Ramadan, a number of staple food prices such as rice, sugar and meat have experienced price fluctuations. However, so far the fluctuations are still within reasonable limits and do not worry the public. Likewise, the distribution and availability of a number of commodities are still well maintained.
This was conveyed by the Deputy Minister of Trade (Wamendag) of the Republic of Indonesia Dr. Jerry Sambuaga after ensuring the stability of the prices of basic necessities at the Oro-Oro Dowo People's Market in Malang City, Thursday (9/3/2023). Deputy Minister of Trade Jerry admitted that there were indeed some prices of necessities that had increased slightly, such as chilies, shallots and garlic. However, there were also some that had decreased, such as medium rice, meat and chicken.
Such monitoring results, said Deputy Minister of Trade Jerry, also apply to various traditional markets in other regions when his party conducted checks. Such as in Bandung, Central Java, Manado and Surabaya. In this situation, the shared homework, especially for the local government, is to maintain the flow of distribution, availability of commodities, and to prevent hoarding.
“Indeed, different stalls, different shops, different prices. Indeed, some go up, some go down and it fluctuates. But for now it is still at a reasonable stage and hopefully we can continue to suppress it so that it does not increase again. To guarantee and ensure that the availability is safe, of course we coordinate with the regions,” added Deputy Minister of Trade Jerry.
We from the center, he continued, certainly hope for good synergy with the provincial government, district government and city government of course also ensure that the supply chain from the distributor runs well including logistics costs. Because all of that affects the price.
In order to avoid significant price spikes in the future, Deputy Minister of Trade Jerry asked the regional government to continue to go down and monitor prices in the market and coordinate with the central government. "If a market operation is needed, do it immediately, so that the public is not worried," he said.
This was responded to by the Head of the Cooperatives, Industry and Trade Service (Diskopindag) of Malang City, Eko Sri Yuliadi who at that time accompanied the working visit of Deputy Trade Minister Jerry. According to him, so far the prices of a number of necessities in the market are still stable. "According to the Deputy Trade Minister's instructions, of course we will also monitor the distribution and availability of commodities," he said.
Likewise, regarding the possibility of indications of hoarding, Eko appealed that it not happen. "If there are parties who are proven to have hoarded commodities and hampered distribution, they will be prosecuted and will be subject to sanctions according to applicable regulations," he concluded. (say/yon)
