Basic commodity prices set to increase today

JAKARTA (JP): Prices of essential commodities, especially foodstuffs, are set to skyrocket yet again today following steep increases in fuel, traders said yesterday.

Food prices were relatively stable yesterday, a day after the government announced the changes, because the commodities had been transported prior to the price increment.

"But I can tell you that a price hike is a certainty tomorrow," Yahya, a vegetable seller at Cikini market, Central Jakarta, said.

Vegetable sellers at Jatinegara market, East Jakarta, made the same prediction.

"As of tomorrow, traders will have to raise prices if they don't want to lose money," one of the vendors, Edi, said.

But some traders at Senen market in Central Jakarta and Kramat Jati market in East Jakarta had already increased food prices yesterday.

Merchants at Kramat Jati wholesale market predicted that food prices would increase by between 5 percent to 10 percent today.

On Monday, the government announced that fuel prices would increase by between 25 percent and 71.43 percent to reduce subsidies and curb the state budget deficit.

The price of kerosene, which is widely used by low-income families, increased 25 percent to Rp 350 per liter, while the cost of gasoline jumped more than 71 percent to Rp 1,200.

Automotive diesel oil increased to Rp 600 from Rp 380, jet fuel to Rp 600 from Rp 420 per liter, industrial diesel oil to Rp 500 from Rp 360, and bunker oil to Rp 350 from Rp 240.

Truck drivers at Kramat Jati market told The Jakarta Post that they had upped rental fees as of yesterday.

One driver, Komarudin, said that the fee to transport vegetables from the market to Tebet, in South Jakarta, had increased from Rp 17,000 to about Rp 23,000 for a small truck and from Rp 23,000 to Rp 27,000 for a big truck.

The price of transporting goods from Kramat Jati to Pasar Minggu market, also in South Jakarta, had increased from Rp 15,000 to between Rp 22,000 and Rp 23,000 for a small truck.

Scores of shoppers, most of them women, queued at Pasar Minggu and Kramat Jati markets yesterday morning for kerosene, which was still sold in some places at the old price of Rp 250 per liter.

"I sell the kerosene for Rp 300 per liter," a Kramat Jati vendor, Rosfiah, said. "Currently the market price is about Rp 400. I pity my customers who came all the way here and have stood in a queue since the morning."

Bus fares

The city administration is yet to set the new fares for Mikrolet or KWK minivans that mostly operate outside the city center.

But minivan drivers have already started implementing their own fare schedule to factor in the new fuel prices.

One driver, Joker Sianipar, who plies the Pondok Gede-Kampung Melayu route in East Jakarta, said his colleagues adjusted the fares using the new tariffs for regular buses as their guide.

"Fares for the regular buses have been raised by Rp 200 so we did the same thing," he said.

The minimum fare for a Mikrolet has increased from Rp 300 to Rp 500, while the maximum fare has jumped from Rp 700 to Rp 1,000.

Joker said that only 50 percent of the 125-strong Mikrolet armada in his company was operational yesterday because drivers feared that the new fares would anger passengers.

"Many of my colleagues chose to wait and see the developments over the next day or two before they hit the streets again," he said.

KWK drivers had a similar policy on fares.

Sagala, a driver, said that he had increased the minimum fare from Rp 300 to Rp 500 and the maximum from Rp 900 to Rp 1,400.

Harun, a driver for Dian taxi company, said he hoped Governor Sutiyoso would not increase the taxi fare too much because it would only cause more problems for him.

"I hope Sutiyoso will heed our call," he said. "If he has to raise the fare, please, make it no more than 20 percent, or else it will only make business sluggish.

"I hope the tariff will be raised to about Rp 1,700 from the current amount of Rp 1,500. We'll certainly lose customers if the flag fall is set higher than Rp 1,700."

Governor Sutiyoso said yesterday that Mikrolet and KWK operators should not raise their fares until there is an official announcement from the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda).

"The new fares will be set as low as possible," he said. "I am still waiting for Organda's proposals."

The head of City Land Transportation Agency (DLLAJ), JP Sepang, warned bus operators not to charge more than the tariff set by the administration.

"They have to stick to the official levels. I call on passengers to report any violations regarding the tariff regulation."

Sepang said DLLAJ and Organda would soon present the KWK and Mikrolet tariff proposals to the governor. (ind/cst/edt)