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)