Price of milk

Price of milk

From Pikiran Rakyat

My small child was born amid the ailing economy. The prices of virtually all commodities, basic commodities in particular, have risen. Traders seem to be in a rat race to increase their prices. The price of milk, for babies and adults alike, has skyrocketed. In fact, milk is the most essential food for a baby (of course, either formula or mother's milk).

As for adults, milk is only supplementary because there are still other kinds of food which they can eat to survive.

I am sure that if the bad economic condition persists, many babies will not drink enough milk and both their physical and intellectual development will be hampered because, on average, only a small percentage of the Indonesian population can afford to buy milk. Most will be kept very busy just to earn money to buy just a bottle or two of milk.

Allow me, therefore, to suggest that the government should prohibit any increase in the price of milk, while at the same time it should encourage an increase in the prices of cigarettes, alcohol and other kinds of food hazardous to human health. (Hasn't the government all this time been discouraging people from smoking by labeling every packet of cigarettes with a health warning?)

I am also convinced that parents will agree to this idea and even smokers will be willing to cut down on, if not totally give up, smoking just for the sake of their little babies/children.

As a parent of a small child, I hope the relevant government agencies will continue to look for a solution to this problem. I also wish to apologize to producers of cigarettes and alcohol for using these products as my examples above.

Y. UDIYANTO

Bandung, West Java