By :Savira Ayu )*
The government continues to maximize the fulfillment of people’s food needs, including the availability of cooking oil. One of these ways is by holding market operations in various regions in Indonesia.
Food, clothing and shelter are the main needs of the community that must be met. If there are no three then life will not run smoothly. Especially food because it is the most mandatory thing. Meanwhile, Indonesian people consume rice as the main food ingredient, and use other basic necessities (nine basic ingredients) such as sugar, wheat flour, and cooking oil.
In order to meet food needs, the government implements a market operation policy in all regions. The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, directly observed market operations in Riau. According to him, market operations must be carried out so that the stock of basic necessities is safe, especially cooking oil and sugar.
Minister Airlangga added that market operations are at the same time monitoring whether the supply of basic necessities is sufficient and whether sugar and flour stocks can meet people’s demands. In addition, market operations also aim to find out whether cooking oil is also sold at a price determined by the government. Currently, the highest retail price of cooking oil is 14,000 rupiah per liter for good quality, while the bulk is 11,500 rupiah.
When someone sells oil at a higher price, they will immediately be dealt with. Although the difference is only 500 rupiah. The reason is that he does not want to follow the government’s advice and wants to take large profits, thus ignoring the highest retail price.
In this market operation, basic food prices are sold very cheaply, for example sugar is only 9,500 rupiah per kilogram (though usually 13,500 rupiah). Even rice is only 44,500 per 5 kilograms (though usually more than 60,000 rupiah per small bag).
Prices during market operations are deliberately made cheap with the aim of making it easier for small communities so that they can get basic necessities at affordable prices. In addition, the government is committed to meeting the food needs of the community, so that the stock is safe.
People’s food needs must be met because food must be in the kitchen. Imagine if cooking oil is scarce, then mothers will find it difficult to cook, as well as if the price of sugar goes up, it will be difficult to make sweet tea. Therefore, the government continues to carry out market operations to facilitate the community.
Food is the main need, because if people are hungry, negative things will appear. Individuals who have difficulty getting food ingredients may use illegal methods to obtain them, and this can add to the list of cases in Indonesia. Don’t let this happen because of scarce groceries.
In addition, the government also promised to take firm action against those who hoard cooking oil. Recently, a husband and wife couple have been going viral who store more than 9,000 liters of cooking oil in their house. They certainly violated the law and were sentenced to five years in prison, because their actions harmed many people.
The government will try to ensure that the food needs of the community are safe and there is no shortage of basic necessities. In addition to market operations, the production sector will also be increased. The trick is the millennial farmer program which is a regeneration system, so that young farmers are enthusiastic to produce good quality rice and achieve food self-sufficiency.
The government will continue to maximize the fulfillment of people’s food needs. The way to do this is by market operations that are not only carried out in Jakarta, but also throughout Indonesia. In this way, it is hoped that basic needs will be met and the community can get them at low prices.
)* The author is a contributor to Pertiwi Institute
