By: Aulia Hawa )*
The government has officially stopped the export of cooking oil ingredients abroad. This decision is considered appropriate because it reflects the state’s alignment with the people.
One of the obligations of the state is indeed to protect the people. The state must be able to ensure that all the interests of the people are properly fulfilled. Therefore, the attitude of President Joko Widodo regarding his decision to ban the export of cooking oil ingredients has reflected this very well.
The state is indeed there to accommodate and protect whatever the interests of the people, as stated by Member of Commission VI DPR RI Mufti Anam as a form of appreciation for the president. So far, regarding the scarcity of cooking oil, it turns out that the mafia and oligarchs are playing behind it.
Therefore, starting from the announcement of the case against the Director General of the Ministry of Trade until the President immediately declared his firm stance to prohibit export activities, it is very appropriate for us to give appreciation. The scarcity of oil shows that so far the oligarchs have only sided with their own interests in accumulating wealth.
They did not pay attention to the impact or effects that would occur, such as oil becoming a scarce commodity in the country. Fortunately, the state was present and immediately became the defender of the interests of the people by fighting the monopolistic interests of the oligarchs.
In addition, it turns out that this export ban policy has long been one of the proposals submitted by the DPR RI. So when exports are prohibited like now, the distribution of cooking oil commodities will automatically be focused on or earmarked for the domestic market only, so that people’s needs can be guaranteed with adequate stock availability, and as a result prices will stabilize again.
Not only does it show the political will and firmness as well as the state’s alignment with the interests of the people, but more than that, the decision to ban the export of cooking oil has also made us more upright about our sovereignty as the largest supplier of palm oil in the world.
It is clear that the recent incident when Indonesia experienced a shortage of cooking oil is a sad irony, due to the fact that we are the largest supplier of palm oil in the world but our own country is experiencing a cooking oil supply crisis.
With the enactment of a firm policy to directly prohibit the export of cooking oil, of course our sovereignty as the largest palm oil supplying country will be very strong and shows that we will absolutely not submit to any power, especially those of the oligarchs. And we will only defend the interests of the people.
The presence of the state to defend the interests of the people should indeed be done, besides that so far it has been the last 5 to 6 months as said by Rizal Halim as Chairman of the National Consumer Protection Agency (BPKN) that a firm policy like this has been eagerly awaited by the community.
The ban on the export of cooking oil is a firm signal for the Government to crush the cooking oil mafia, which has been playing tricks on the people. The policy of stopping the export of cooking oil is also expected to create a new equilibrium for the price of the commodity, making it easier for the Indonesian people to reach.
)* The author is a contributor to Pertiwi Institute