Jakarta Provincial Government Regularly Monitors Food Prices to Detect Price Anomalies

Jakarta — Jakarta’s Food Security, Maritime and Agriculture Office (KPKP) deploys approximately 20 officers who routinely monitor food prices at traditional markets throughout Jakarta to detect price anomalies.

“Each day, there are 20 enumerators across Jakarta who will visit traditional markets to check prices,” said the Head of Jakarta’s KPKP Office, Hasudungan Sidabalok, in a podcast monitored in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The enumeration results from these officers are then uploaded into the Jakarta food information system (infopangan.jakarta.go.id), which is accessible to the public.

On the other hand, the Jakarta Provincial Government also compares food prices in Jakarta with food information held by the National Food Agency (Bapanas) under the Ministry of Industry.

“If an anomaly occurs, if prices are too high or too low regarding food prices, we can cross-check with field investigations,” said Hasudungan.

He explained that these efforts are part of an early warning system that can serve as a reference for identifying causes and solutions, including determining subsequent coordination steps.

Additionally, food supply is heavily dependent on weather conditions. If availability in producing regions decreases due to weather, for instance, then the supply flowing into Jakarta will also decrease.

Another factor, he noted, concerns transportation costs. The farther the food-producing region is from Jakarta, the higher the transportation costs become, which affects the purchase price or selling price in Jakarta’s markets.

Therefore, the Jakarta Provincial Government through its food state-owned enterprises collaborates with supplier regions through contract farming to guarantee food supplies whilst stabilising prices.

“With this cooperation, the supply chain can be much shorter. It does not go through intermediaries anymore. Automatically, prices are lower and availability is faster,” Hasudungan said.