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)