Scarcity Of Cooking Oil, Chairman Of The House Of Representatives Banggar: There Are Evil Motives From Certain Parties Who Want To Make Quick Profits

Chairman of the DPR Budget Body, MH Said Abdullah. (Photo: Special)

JAKARTA - Many times, people in the country face the same problem from time to time, namely the scarcity of some of the people's food needs. Recently, the people have been made difficult by the scarcity of cooking oil stocks in various places.

The chairman of the DPR's Budget Agency, MH Said Abdullah, said that various incidents of scarcity of people's basic food needs were not just a matter of poor supply and demand management.

“There is a high probability that there is an evil motive (mens rea) to get various benefits in a short time, and ignore various strategic considerations regarding the lives of many people. For example, we have found hoarding of cooking oil of more than a million kilograms in North Sumatra," Said said in his statement, Monday, March 7.

The government, said Said, has indeed taken several steps to address the scarcity of cooking oil, including; provide subsidies, conduct market operations and enforce a Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) policy for palm oil which is the raw material for cooking oil by 20 percent of total exports, as well as regulation of Domestic Price Obligation (DPO) for domestic price regulation of CPO. The government also applies the highest price of CPO at Rp 9,500 per kg or in the form of oil at Rp 10,300 per kg.

“On paper, the arrangements made by the government on the scarcity of cooking oil should be resolved. However, the field says otherwise, we still find that in some areas there is a scarcity of cooking oil and price increases that exceed the selling price of cooking oil above Rp. 15 thousand. This profit-taking seems to ignore the DPO policy," he said.

Said further said, incident after incident did not seem to make us take lessons, so that we always continue to improve our national food policies and governance. Food sovereignty is a strategic issue that we place in the course of this government.

Realizing food and energy sovereignty has been one of the main programs of President Joko Widodo since 2015. However, this government's efforts seem to be getting various disturbances from many parties, especially those whose businesses have been disrupted.

No less than the President himself complained about the slow pace of construction of an oil refinery in Tuban, East Java. At the direction of Megawati Soekarnoputri, General Chairperson of the PDI-P, all party officials should use their power to realize food sovereignty.

"Upon his direction, I at the DPR's Budgetary Body pushed for a reorientation of the Special Allocation Fund (DAK) policy to support the food sovereignty policy. Of course, this cannot solve everything, because many of our food sources supply chains are fulfilled by the private sector, both domestically and abroad," he explained.

Said also hopes that the scarcity of cooking oil will be the last story, so that this incident can be a turning point in developing a more well-organized people's food management.

"For that I expect all parties to take integrated steps. Because people's food management requires the cooperation of many parties, not only the government," he explained.

The steps for this collaboration include:

1. The government needs to compile an accurate national food policy roadmap. Mitigating various sources of problems for people's food management that has been happening so far, both from upstream to downstream.

2. The government needs to create an integrated national logistics system, connected with various parties, both at the center and in the regions, with a cross-sectoral approach. With this system, we always get the latest information through the dashboard of the national logistics system. The system must be able to provide early warning of potential food supply chain problems, including various dirty trade practices, such as monopolistic practices, cartels, etc. The development of this food logistics system also facilitates data collection for various agencies for taxes, customs and excise, etc.

3. The government needs to strengthen the role and function of the Logistics Agency. Bulog's intervention in the market needs to be continuously strengthened, so that Bulog can become an effective stabilizer in dealing with various issues concerning the people's food stock. Bulog's strengthening is by increasing the volume and diversity of strategic food stocks such as rice, eggs, cooking oil, soybeans, salt, etc., which of course must also be supported by a modern warehousing system and efficient distribution speed.

4. In order to carry out market operations related to law enforcement, the government needs to involve the participation of the wider community. The limitation of the apparatus is very beneficial for the parties who are hunting for rent and speculation. The Ministry of Trade needs to imitate the police in maintaining village security by establishing a security system. In terms of people's food supervision, it is very good if the Ministry of Trade has the power of the people who are organized to participate actively in the supervision of food governance.

5. The Ministry of Trade needs to publicly announce to the public companies that do not comply with the DMO and DPO of palm oil, and enforce the law on such violations. This decisive step needs to be taken by the government so that in the future no more companies can be above the government.

6. Due to the ineffectiveness of DMO and DPO policies in the field, and the continued soaring and scarcity of cooking oil in many areas, the government must temporarily halt palm oil exports for at least a month in order to ensure compliance by a number of large producers to meet domestic palm oil needs.

7. The government needs to continue to develop people's food diversification. This case of scarcity of cooking oil shows that cooking oil from palm oil is a product that seems to have no substitute. Our dependence on palm cooking oil is very high. In fact, we also know virgin coconut oil (VCO) or coconut oil which is healthier than palm oil.

“In fact, it is possible for us to reduce the consumption of cooking oil. We inherit the tradition of cooking by boiling and baking. The cooking method of boiling and baking is even healthier, and tastes more authentic. Community groups need to continue to develop this cooking tradition. Industry can also enter to fill the market with various tools to boil and burn food ingredients in a practical way,” concluded Said.