Grocers told not ot raise food prices ahead of polls

JAKARTA (JP): In a bid to avoid public anxiety, the government has asked the country's grocers not to raise the prices of food staples and other commodities.

Teddy Setiadi, the director general of trade at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said in a statement over the weekend that all officials in the ministry's provincial offices have been instructed to oversee the sale of food staples in the market to prevent undue price increases.

Teddy said he was serious about maintaining the price stability of staple foods.

The trade official's statement followed reports of unusually high demand for basic staples within the last two weeks. According to newspaper reports, many people have started to hoard their daily necessities out of fear that there will be riots ahead of, during and after the June general election.

The security situation could deteriorate when 48 political parties start their campaigns on May 19. If there are any perceived violations of election regulations, it could spark bloody riots similar to those in May last year, during which hundreds of stores were burned or looted.

The distribution of food staples and other basic commodities was totally paralyzed during the three-day riots.

The trade official, however, said that prices of rice, sugar, flour, palm oil, meat, milk, butter and instant noodles at grocery stores in the five districts of Jakarta have remained stable.

The average prices of canned and powdered milk also remained stable at Rp 4,112 (about 50 U.S. cents) per can and Rp 12,060 per 400 grams. (udi)