Basic commodities idea needs further review

By Christiani S.A. Tumelap

JAKARTA (JP): The concept of nine basic commodities needs to be reviewed and adjusted to people's changing lifestyle, analysts said.

The central government established the concept decades ago and put nine items on the list: rice, sugar, salt, salted-fish, detergent, cooking oil, kerosene, mori or unbleached plain cloth used for batik, and synthetic materials.

These were considered people's most important needs.

Zumrotin K. Soesilo, an executive of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation, said lifestyle changes have rendered some of these items irrelevant or less significant.

"The need for commodities such as salt, salted-fish, detergent, mori and synthetic material, is not as important as it used to be," she said.

She suggested the government update the concept and replace the items with more useful ones.

"Non-commodity items like education, transportation, housing and water are new important needs which I think should be included in the concept," she said, adding that people did not survive only on household goods nowadays.

With rapid development education and the other items have become very important, she said.

People now need good education, well-managed transport, affordable houses and clean drinking water.

Nevertheless, Zumrotin said the remaining basic commodities like rice, sugar, cooking oil and kerosene were still important.

She suggested chicken, eggs and flour and other items replace salt, salted-fish, mori and synthetic materials.

"The revised concept of basic commodities can be used to replace determinants of the regional minimum wage," she said.

What is more important is that if things like housing are included in the basic needs concept they can be protected from uncontrolled price increases, she said.

An economist, a legislator and a city councilor agreed a wider concept of basic commodities was needed.

Economist Didik Rachbini, who chairs the Institute for the Development of Economics and Finance, said the nine original items should be added to.

Soekotjo Said, deputy chairman of House of Representatives' Commission VII for Finance, Trade, Cooperatives and Logistics and Councilor Zarkasyi Marzuki of Commission B for the Economy, agreed.

They said the commodities were still in great demand especially among middle and lower socioeconomic groups.

Soekotjo said: "I think we have to look at the concept in a broader view. Many people here still consider salted-fish, for example, as part of their main diet. That proves that not all of us live modern lifestyles."

But Central Bureau of Statistics consumer price division head Mulijanto said the nine basic needs concept should not be subject to debate.

"What is important to know is that the concept is actually broken down further into 200 or 225 commodities. These commodities, which cover all aspects of people's needs, are used to measure the consumer price index (CPI) which records inflation," he said.

The commodities include foods, clothing, housing, and various goods and services, Mulijanto said.

The Bureau is conducting a living costs survey in 44 cities which should be completed by the end of the year, he said.

The results will be used to reevaluate the existing commodities used to measure the CPI.

But Zumrotin and the other observers expressed concern that if the concept was not revised, prices would get out of control.

Didik said the market should still control the prices of items added to the list but be supervised by the government.

For instance, "The construction and selling of houses can be done by developers, but land distribution must be fairly supervised by the government to reduce monopolies by developers. Land is not like chips, it cannot be distributed however they please," he added.

Didik said housing should be added immediately to the basic needs concept.

Meanwhile, Zarkasyi said because housing was a very complicated matter, it was unlikely that a reviewed basic needs concept could immediately include housing.

Soekotjo wanted education to be included immediately.

"We should add education to the concept to boost the quality of our human resources. I think there is nothing wrong in revising the number of commodities," he said.

Didik said the increase of items in the new concept would not mean the formation of new agencies to manage their prices. The government's logistic agency has this responsibility.

"Transportation, for example, can still be supervised by the Ministry of Transportation," he said.