Stocks of foodstuffs OK in Jakarta: Official

Stocks of foodstuffs OK in Jakarta: Official

JAKARTA (JP): The current stocks of basic foodstuffs and
necessities in the capital are enough to last until 10 days after
the Dec. 27-28 Idul Fitri holidays, an official said.

According to the head of the City Economic Development Office,
Dameria Saragih, her office would also do everything it could to
help stabilize the prices of essential commodities, particularly
rice, meat, chicken, cooking oil, vegetables and fish.

The devastating floods and landslides which have occurred in
several places, such as Sumatra, would, of course, affect the
stocks of certain commodities in Jakarta as the capital sourced
many of these from the disaster-hit areas, she said on Friday.

"Due to the floods and landslides in some of the provinces in
Sumatra, the supply of fruit and vegetables would be affected,"
Dameria told journalists.

Many places in Aceh, West and North Sumatra have been hit by
landslides and floods over the past few weeks due to continuous
torrential rain, leaving a large number of fatalities and persons
missing, with thousands of others now homeless and facing food
shortages.

Dameria was concerned that the stock of coconuts in the
capital, for instance, would prove to be insufficient over the
next few days should supplies from West Sumatra continue to
experience disruption.

So far, the problem had yet to arise, she added.

"To date, the disasters in Sumatra have yet to affect our
stocks and we still have sufficient supplies.

But we have to make contingency plans should things go wrong
and the supply begins to be affected," she said.

Her office and other related agencies plan to undertake direct
distribution of basic commodities to help maintain price
stability or, if possible, lower prices.

"We'll discuss the plan further with Governor Sutiyoso," she
said.

According to the findings of the latest surveys conducted by
her office at several major markets in the capital, the price of
basic commodities has increased by between 10 percent and 30
percent due to the significant jump in demand.

"Last week, we directly distributed commodities to the
Jatinegara and Kramat Jati markets in East Jakarta. We will
continue to do this every week in different markets," Dameria
said.

In an attempt to help Jakartans obtain basic commodities at
relatively cheap prices, her office would hold a three-day bazaar
in the grounds of Monas (the National Monument) in Central
Jakarta, not far from the governor's office. (dja)