The Ineffectiveness Of Appeals Not To Panic Buying, Cooking Oil Of Rp. 14,000 Sold Out At Indomaret And Alfamart, Mothers In Kreo Complaining Cannot Get It

Rp. 14 thousand of cooking oil sold out at one of the Indomaret. (Mary Handayani/VOI)

JAKARTA - The government asks the public not to overspend or panic buying in response to the policy of cooking oil at a price of Rp. 14 thousand per liter. However, it turned out that the appeal was not effective, the cooking oil was actually sold out in modern retailers.

On the first day the one-price rule was enforced, namely Wednesday, January 19, simple and premium packaged cooking oil ran out in an instant and was invaded by buyers, the majority of whom were women.

According to VOI's monitoring, on the second day the one-price cooking oil policy was in effect, in a number of modern hotels, namely Indomaret, Pesanggrahan 2 area, West Jakarta, the stock of cooking oil was empty.

One employee said that buyers, who were dominated by mothers, were very enthusiastic about the policy. Thus, the stock in the store sold out within 2 hours, on the first day.

"It's been out since yesterday. There's not much stock, because there's stock in the store. Usually, the goods come back every 2 days. But I don't know if the oil is there or not, I'll come back later," he told VOI, Thursday, January 20.

Shifting towards Kreo, Tangerang, cooking oil supplies were exhausted. Based on the statement of the employee who did not want to be named, since this morning 50 pcs of cooking oil have been sold.

"The cooking oil ran out. Just opened it this morning, the mothers lined up, there were 50 pcs. Yesterday (on the first day) there were also more who bought approximately 100 pcs. Don't know when it will come in again, but usually every 2 days the goods come in, " he said.

One of the buyers, Siti (50) said that since this morning she had been around the Kreo area looking for cooking oil at modern retailers, but had not been able to find it.

"I've been looking for Indomaret since this morning, all of them are empty. I've been looking around for nothing. Because yesterday everyone was fighting over," said Siti.

Not only in the Kreo area, shifting towards Joglo, the supply of cooking oil at Alfamidi's modern retail has been sold out since yesterday. One of the employees, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained that the store's supply of cooking oil was sold out in one day.

"It's finished, there's no cooking oil. It's been out since 20.00 yesterday. I don't know when it will come in again, maybe tomorrow," he said.

Two buyers, Indarti (49) and Maisaroh (40) said they were also looking for cooking oil. However, none of the five shops visited had a supply of cooking oil.

"I've been looking for this around, can't find it. I've been to Alfamart, next door to Indomaret, nothing. Yesterday I didn't buy it, the line was really long," he said.

There is also a shortage of cooking oil in Depok. Based on observations, Indomaret modern retail in the area of Jalan Proklamasi, also does not have a stock of packaged cooking oil, either simple or premium.

"It's finished, it hasn't arrived yet. Right, yesterday we finished off the stock at the store. After that, we (sell) the last stock in the store. We usually restock every 2 days," said one employee.

The same condition also occurs in Alfamart modern retail in the area. One of the employees said that the sale of cooking oil was enforced by one person only being allowed to buy 1 liter. However, because many buyers came, the existing stock was sold out.

"It's gone. We only have a little stock, so we bought a lot yesterday. The purchase is limited to one person at a time. At the very least, it will come later in the afternoon or tomorrow," he said.

Previously, Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi said the one-price cooking oil policy would apply for the next six months. After six months, the policy will begin to be reviewed whether it needs to be extended or not.

Therefore, Lutfi also appealed to the public not to overspend or panic buying in response to the price of cooking oil to Rp. 14 thousand.

"There is no need to panic buying or buying excessively because the government guarantees that the stock at a price of Rp. 14,000 per liter can definitely meet the needs of the community," he said.

The former Indonesian Ambassador to the United States said that the government through the Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDPKS) added a subsidy of Rp. 7.6 trillion to finance the supply of packaged cooking oil.

Furthermore, Lutfi said the government provided 1.5 billion liters of cooking oil in the one-price cooking oil program. This step was taken as an effort by the government to reduce the price of cooking oil, which has soared since the end of 2021.

"Amounting to 250 million liters per month or the equivalent of 1.5 billion liters for the next six months, the policy has been socialized to all cooking oil producers and modern retailers. In principle, modern producers and retailers support this government policy to stabilize cooking oil prices," he explained.