Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi Apologizes For Not Being Able To Beat The Cooking Oil Mafia In Today's Memory, March 17, 2022

JAKARTA Memories of today, three years ago, March 17, 2022, the Minister of Trade (Mendag), Muhammad Lutfi apologized to the Indonesian people for not being able to beat the cooking oil mafia. He then revoked the regulation on the Highest Retail Price (HET) for cooking oil.

Previously, the COVID-19 pandemic caused many problems. Take for example the scarcity of cooking oil. The Indonesian people must try extra to get cooking oil. Even if there is a fee, it is quite expensive.

Indonesia is a country rich in natural resources. The oil palm plantation is abundant. There is almost no doubt that the national cooking oil stock could be disrupted. However, the only thing that can consider cooking oil stocks to be the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020.

The panic buying (excessive buying) attitude due to the pandemic is considered a problem that triggers scarcity in early 2022. The cooking oil includes bulk cooking oil, simple packaged cooking oil, and premium cooking oil.

The Ministry of Trade took a stand. They began to see problems as a whole. As a result, they see that oil stocks are actually abundant. They are suspicious of naughty businessmen holding back stocks. The price is deliberately set to be expensive for profit.

The owner of power feels that disturbances related to scarcity can be resolved in the near future. The Ministry of Trade chose to threaten the rogue cooking oil seller. The threat is in the form of revoking the cooking oil retail business license.

This is stated in the Regulation of the Minister of Trade (Permendag) Number 6 of 2022 concerning the Determination of the HET of Palm Cooking Oil. The government then officially implemented the HET rules for cooking oil on February 1, 2022.

bulk cooking oil is set at Rp11,500 per liter. Simple packaged cooking oil is Rp13,500 per liter. Finally, premium packaged cooking oil is Rp14,000 per liter. The problem is that the scarcity of cooking oil continues to occur in the market. The Ministry of Trade was also criticized.

"Retailers who sell palm cooking oil only to consumers are required to take part in the HET," said the Ministry of Trade in Article 4 Paragraph 1 of the Minister of Trade Regulation Number 6 of 2022.

In fact, the business of controlling scarcity and oil prices is not easy. The Indonesian people still have difficulty getting cooking oil. Some politicians even try to urge the public to use other cooking methods besides frying.

The narrative was criticized. Recently, the Ministry of Trade appeared to provide new information. They revealed that the cause of scarcity was not rare buying, but because there was a cooking oil mafia. The cooking oil mafia takes advantage of opportunities in the narrowness.

The mafia works by taking household stocks and smuggling them for industry to foreign countries. The Ministry of Trade considers they must not lose to the mafia. However, the day the spirit dims.

The Ministry of Trade finally revealed an apology to the Indonesian people on March 17, 2022. They admit that it is difficult to fight the cooking oil mafia. This means that the government has not been able to beat the cooking oil mafia.

The Ministry of Trade then revoked the HET rules by handing over the price of cooking oil completely through the market mechanism. The decision brought criticism from everywhere.

"There are people who should not get the proceeds from this cooking oil. For example, cooking oil that should be consumed by the public into the industry or smuggled abroad".

"What happens when most of the oil cannot be accounted for, that's why there is such a slope. With an apology, the Ministry of Trade cannot control it because this is a greedy and evil human nature. In the future, I ask the Food Task Force to fight these mafias who are greedy and evil. we must work together for us," said Lutfi at a working meeting at the DPR RI as quoted by Pandas.com page, March 17, 2022.