Bapanas Prepares Food Distribution Facilitation to Curb Bird's Eye Chilli Prices in Jakarta

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Food Agency (Bapanas) is preparing a Food Distribution Facilitation (FDP) measure to curb the persistently high prices of red bird’s eye chilli at a number of markets in DKI Jakarta and its surrounding areas.

Bapanas Deputy for Food Availability and Stabilisation I Gusti Ketut Astawa said distribution costs are one of the main factors influencing bird’s eye chilli prices, particularly for supplies shipped from Sulawesi to Jakarta.

“Distribution costs from Sulawesi to Jakarta are approximately Rp10,000 per kilogramme — this is what we will seek to address through the FDP,” Ketut said following a spot inspection of food prices and supplies at several traditional markets in Jakarta on Monday.

He explained that through the FDP scheme, the government can reduce the price of red bird’s eye chilli at the wholesale market level by approximately Rp5,000 to Rp10,000 per kilogramme, which would in turn bring down retail prices.

Ketut noted that chilli supplies for the FDP programme would be sourced primarily from production centres in West Java and South Sulawesi, including the Enrekang and Bulukumba regions.

According to him, the FDP was also implemented in the previous year to suppress chilli prices, and the price adjustments at wholesale markets were followed by corresponding movements at traditional markets.

“This is not the first time we have done this — we also carried out the FDP last year. So we are not caught off guard,” Ketut said.

In addition to reducing distribution costs, the FDP programme will also be tailored to the preferences of consumers in DKI Jakarta, who tend to favour bird’s eye chilli from certain regions, particularly West Java, owing to its closer proximity to wholesale markets.

Ketut added that increased supply from production areas is expected to begin within the next two weeks as weather conditions improve and harvesting activity picks up at production centres.

With the combination of FDP and increased supply, Bapanas hopes that red bird’s eye chilli prices can return to more reasonable levels ahead of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.

“With the government’s FDP assistance, prices can be corrected by a minimum of Rp5,000 to Rp10,000. Within the next two weeks, production should hopefully increase so that prices return to normal,” he said.

Based on Bapanas’s spot inspection at Kramat Jati Wholesale Market on Monday, the price of red bird’s eye chilli remained at around Rp80,000 per kilogramme, although this represented a relative decline compared to the previous week, when prices had reached approximately Rp90,000 to Rp100,000 per kilogramme.

Bapanas assured that the policy is being implemented in accordance with directives from the Head of the National Food Agency to maintain price stability without disrupting market mechanisms.

“We hope prices can gradually decline so that the public is not burdened,” Ketut said.