Food supply for festive season sufficient: Sutiyoso
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso said on Friday that food supplies ahead of and during the upcoming festivities -- the Ramadhan fasting month, Christmas, the New Year and Idul Fitri -- were adequate to meet demand in the city.
The governor explained that rice stocks held by the Jakarta chapter of the National Logistics Agency (Dolog Jaya) reached 541,551 tons at present, enough to meet demand for eight months.
"Another 53,000 tons are expected to enter the city soon," he said.
Sutiyoso also said that sugar stocks in the city reached 69,642 tons and another 85,000 tons would soon enter the city, while the soybean stock reached 42,162 tons.
"The quantity of cooking oil at the Indonesian Distribution Cooperative is projected to reach 10,000 tons for Jakarta, with another 100,000 tons for the whole of Java," he said.
Cattle imports would reach 30,000 during the festivities, of which 15,000 had already entered the capital, he said.
The city will also be supplied with 20,000 tons of chicken and 23,375 chicken eggs, along with 30,250 tons of fish and 71,555 tons of vegetables. Four million coconuts, 55,300 tons of flour and 22,000 tons of fruits will also be supplied.
The food supplies, distributed to markets throughout the city, have increased by an average of between 10 percent and 30 percent, he said.
In order to ensure the distribution of the food supplies, he said, market cooperatives, in cooperation with other cooperatives, were already prepared to handle the task.
Moreover, Lampung and West Java provinces had also expressed their readiness to meet the sharply rising demand for food supplies in Jakarta during the festivities, he said.
Dolog Jaya will conduct mass market operations via traditional markets, with the help of small-sized and medium-sized rice traders, to ensure the proper procurement and distribution of rice.
Senayan
Low-priced food markets were held by the Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals in the eastern parking lot of Senayan stadium in Central Jakarta from Saturday to Thursday, and separately in the city's five mayoralties from Wednesday to Friday.
A low-priced food bazaar will be held on the grounds of the House of Representatives building from Jan. 9 to Jan. 10, while low-priced food markets will be held in the five mayoralties from Jan. 12 to Jan. 14.
In anticipation of the need for medical services during Christmas and New Year celebrations, the city administration had prepared 101 doctors, 446 paramedics and 155 ambulances, Sutiyoso said.
Service locations include bus terminals; the Jagorawi, Cikampek and Merak toll roads; the Gambir, Senen, Jatinegara and Manggarai railway stations; Tanjung Priok seaport and the Soekarno-Hatta and Halim Perdanakusuma airports. The medical teams will be on 24 hour alert.
The administration would also deploy eight to 10 personnel from various offices, including tourism, revenues, welfare affairs and social guidance, to secure law and order in each of the city's 43 districts, he said.
About 12,900 police officers would also be deployed to execute the Candle Operation to maintain security in the city from Dec. 18 to Jan. 2.
The officers would be deployed mainly near churches, entertainment spots, shopping centers, railway and bus stations and the city's crime spots. (ylt)