Lowokwaru (malangkota.go.id) – The Malang City Government (Pemkot) together with the Tugu Aneka Usaha Regional Public Company, the Rajawali Nusantara Bulog Public Company, the Farmers Group Association (Gapoktan) and several producers held a Cheap Food Movement (GPM) at the Merjosari Field, Lowokwaru District, Malang City, Monday (16/10/2023).
This event, which is also held to commemorate World Food Day, also aims to stabilize food supplies and prices and control inflation.
This was conveyed by the Acting Mayor of Malang, Dr. Ir. Wahyu Hidayat, MM after opening and reviewing the GPM booth. From this step, he hopes that the needs of residents such as rice, sugar, eggs and cooking oil will be met at affordable prices.
Wahyu said that the increase in the price of necessities was partly triggered by the El Nino phenomenon or a natural phenomenon that affects global climate patterns that have an impact on the agricultural sector. When agricultural output decreases and demand is high, prices increase.
"I checked earlier, the price sold with the market price is indeed different. On average, there are some that are Rp4.000,-, some are Rp1.000,-, including from Perumda Tunas, the queue is long because the price difference is far. In the future, to anticipate, we hope to find more sources of producers so that later the prices of basic necessities in Malang City can be controlled," he explained.
As long as the prices of basic necessities are not stable, Wahyu said that the Malang City Government will hold events like this regularly. Several producers or food producers will also be directly involved. Such as Malang Regency as a producer of rice and paddy and Blitar Regency as a producer of eggs.
The enthusiasm and welcome from the community with the presence of GPM is very good. As expressed by Nanik Suhartini. She hopes that cheap markets like this will always be held by the Malang City Government. According to her, the price of food such as rice, even though the difference is around one thousand to two thousand rupiah per kilogram, is very significant because rice is a basic need.
"In my opinion, it's quite cheaper. Lahap brand rice outside is Rp3.000 different. Usually 5 kg is Rp71 thousand, here it's Rp68.500, there's a difference of Rp2.500, and sugar is Rp500 different. It's quite good, it can reduce expenses and can be used to buy other necessities," said the woman in the hijab. (say/yon)
