Logistics Agency to monitor prices of 10 staple foods

JAKARTA (JP): The National Logistics Agency's (DOLOG) Jakarta office will inspect 20 markets to monitor the stocks of 10 staple foods to make sure prices do not increase too much in the lead up to Christmas, New Year and Idul Fitri.

The office's head, Achmad Noer said Tuesday the inspection would serve as a "preventive measure" against traders increasing the price of staple foods unreasonably.

"We cannot prevent them from hiking the prices a few weeks before and after those holidays. But we will do our best to limit the rise as much as possible," he said in a hearing with Commission VII members.

The ten staple foods are rice, sugar, flour, cooking oil, beef, red chilly, red onions, coconuts, chicken meat and eggs.

Achmad said if the prices of these staples soared or fluctuated it could trigger inflation affecting other prices.

"This is what we want to prevent, which is why the inspection is deemed imperative," Achmad said.

So far there had been no drastic increases in the prices of the food, with rice and sugar sold for Rp 1,170 a kg and Rp 1,500 a kg, he said.

"But we promise that the prices of some of the foods at the 20 markets we are going to inspect will be lower than at other markets following our inspection," Achmad said.

He said sugar would be sold for Rp 1,400 a kg, flour Rp 900 a kg, red chilly Rp 6,000 a kg, red onions Rp 3,600 a kg, beef Rp 12,000 a kg, coconuts Rp 1,200 each, chicken meat Rp 6,000 a kg and eggs Rp 2,800 a kg

DOLOG will provide 25 tons of red chilly, 10 tons of red onions and 150,000 eggs per day in the weeks before Christmas, New Year, Chinese New Year, the fasting month and Idul Fitri. The agency will also supply 14,300 cows for Christmas and New Year and 72,000 for the fasting month and Idul Fitri.

Achmad said DOLOG had 431,164 tons of rice and 55,237 tons of sugar in its warehouses. (bas)