Logistic agency supplies red chilies for Jakarta
Logistic agency supplies red chilies for Jakarta
JAKARTA (JP): The National Logistic Agency (Bulog) has supplied 18 tons of red chilies to markets in Jakarta in a bid to curb the soaring price of the commodity, said the agency head, Beddu Amang.
The "imports" of red chili started about 10 days ago following the increase in demand, he said yesterday.
The price of red chili started to drop to Rp 10,000 per kilogram as of yesterday. On Sunday, a day before Ramadhan, the price reached Rp 17,000 per kilogram.
"The prices of vegetables are fluctuating, especially chili, but I hope the price will be slowly back to normal until Idul Fitri. If the price of chili cannot be controlled, the government will import red chilies from Thailand," Beddu said.
He said his office will monitor prices closely in the next few days before deciding to import chili, because the practice could cause problems to both importers and local farmers.
"If the stock is abundant the price will drop sharply, and this would cause local farmers and importers to suffer great losses," he explained.
"Therefore, importing chili from Thailand needs careful and thorough study," he said, adding that the agency imported chili two years ago.
Beddu said the agency is planting chili on nine hectares of land in Serang, West Java, to answer Jakartans' demand for chili, which is 50 tons per day.
He said that the monsoon season and floods which cause disrupted transportation to Jakarta have become factors which cause an increase in the prices of red chili in Jakarta.
Beddu visited Pasar Minggu and Jatinegara markets as well as Cakung slaughterhouse yesterday to check on stocks and prices of various food staples during Ramadhan.
He said the supplies and prices of other food staples controlled by the agency, such as rice, flour, vegetable oil and sugar, are normal.
The agency has supplied additional rice, sugar and vegetables to city markets in a bid to keep prices down.
For example, a liter of vegetable oil was sold at Rp 1,900 by the agency while traders in the market sold it for Rp 2,200 per liter. "In this way prices will be properly controlled," Beddu said yesterday.
"The prices of food staples are relatively stable and some, including rice, are even decreasing," he said. The market operation for rice has been conducted since September last year.
Meat
Beddu also said the agency will probably set the price of frozen beef at Rp 13,000 per kilogram and Rp 15,000 for fresh beef. Last year one kilogram of frozen beef was Rp 11,000 while fresh beef was Rp 13,000.
The production director of city-owned beef supply company PD Dharma Jaya, Rustami, said that the company has started to meet the increasing demand for meat which is expected to be 400 percent higher than normal.
"Normally, the slaughterhouse produces 100 tons of beef from about 700 cows. A day before Ramadhan 1,400 cows were slaughtered and two days before Idul Fitri it will increase to about 3,000 cows," Rustami said.
The city-owned company is keeping 200 tons of frozen beef in its warehouse and has set aside 2,500 cows for Idul Fitri, while meat importers control is keeping 911.9 tons of frozen beef and 394.5 tons of cow liver. (yns)