Councilor urges Dolog to prevent prices soaring

JAKARTA (JP): A city councilor urged the Jakarta chapter of State Logistics Agency (Dolog) yesterday to control the rising prices of the nine staple foods, particularly rice and eggs.

"How can (Dolog) say that food supplies are enough when, in reality, the food prices are steadily escalating?" Djafar Badjeber, head of Commission B for economic affairs, said.

"The prices are getting higher even though Dolog has launched dozens of operations.

"This is a matter that affects people's stomachs. If Dolog doesn't take serious action against the skyrocketing prices, this situation could possibly lead to bigger social problems.

"You know that hungry people tend to be emotional. And the situation is just getting worse."

The prices of a wide range of staple foods have soared in some markets over the last few days

And locals have repeatedly complained about the steep increases.

Based on the city's economic development agency, the price of Cisadane rice in several major markets rose to Rp 1,900 yesterday from last week's price of Rp 1,700 per kilogram.

The price of a kilogram of cooking oil jumped from Rp 1,600 to Rp 2,500, onions from Rp 900 to Rp 1,400, garlic from Rp 5,075 to Rp 5,550 and red chili from Rp 4,600 to Rp 4,875.

"We realize that there are price increases here and there. But I think it is still normal and under control," the agency's head, Sanjoyo, said.

The head of Dolog, Ardiansyah, reiterated that the agency's rice stocks were about 200,000 tons at present, enough to meet demand during the festive season.

But claims of sufficient stock has not stopped prices from steadily increasing, Djafar said.

The price of eggs in Jakarta has soared over the past few months due mainly to the scarcity of products needed for poultry farming, including medicine.

Head of the city's livestock husbandry agency Sumitro said yesterday that the imbalance between the prices of eggs and chicken feed has caused the price of a kilogram of eggs to surge to Rp 3,700 from Rp 2,500 last August.

"Much of the chicken feed, which consists of fish flour and corn, still depends on imports," he said. "Medicine is also getting more expensive these days due to the effects of the monetary crisis.

"For instance, the price of tetracol (medicine for chickens) costs Rp 600 per tablet, up from only Rp 460. How can the farmers afford it?"

Production costs for a kilogram of eggs is between Rp 3,800 and Rp 4,400 but farmers can only sell them to brokers for Rp 3,000 to Rp 3,200. Then the brokers sell them in the markets for Rp 3,500 per kilogram.

"So you can imagine how hard up the farmers are. The farmers can not keep egg prices affordable because they've already lost so much," he said. "The brokers are the ones who can still benefit from the current gloom because they can increase the price in the market."

Most egg farmers have been forced to sell all their chickens in order to gain returns on their investment and buy feed for chicks.

"We are forced to sell chickens for Rp 2,700 per kilogram. This is crazy. I think the poultry business will close down in about four months," Damsiri, an egg farmer from Jagakarsa, South Jakarta, said.

Jakarta needs 400 tons of eggs every day. Much of the supply comes from West Java towns such as Bekasi, Tangerang, Cianjur, Sukabumi and Bogor. (edt)