Calling BLT Cooking Oil As Trade Minister's Failure, KSPI President Said Iqbal: Not Solving The Problem Of High Prices

KSPI President Said Iqbal. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The unions who are members of the Confederation of Indonesian Workers Union (KSPI) refuse to provide direct cash assistance (BLT) for cooking oil. KSPI considers that BLT is not the answer to the problem of high commodity prices.

As is known, the government will immediately disburse BLT cooking oil worth IDR 100 thousand per month for three months. The cooking oil BLT will be given to 20.5 million families and 2.5 million fried food traders with a total budget of IDR 6.9 trillion.

KSPI President Said Iqbal said the policy was a form of the Trade Minister's failure to act on the scarcity and increase in cooking oil prices. Because of that, he openly rejected the existence of BLT for cooking oil.

"There is no need for BLT, the people don't need BLT. What is needed is for the price of oil (packaged) to go down. BLT is a repository for corruption. All social ministers have been hit by the KPK case because of the Social Assistance. That's why we reject BLT," he said in a virtual press conference, Tuesday, 5 April.

Another reason for the refusal, Iqbal explained, was that his party was afraid that the recipients of the aid would be deceived when they bought packaged cooking oil in the market. This is because packaged cooking oil is widely counterfeited.

"What is happening now? A lot of bulk cooking oil is faked into packaged cooking oil and sold at a premium price. Second, it should be suspected that it is mixed. Because bulk cooking oil does not have an official written content. So the used cooking oil is processed in such a way that it is mixed with bulk cooking oil. This endangers people's health," he said.

In addition, Iqbal said that his party refused assistance for the increase in cooking oil prices, which was answered by giving BLT of IDR 100 blue per month for three months. According to him, the community needs subsidized packaged cooking oil.

"It's not just bulk cooking oil subsidies, not BLT but price subsidies and the availability of packaged cooking oil. Why keep packaged cooking oil? Because that's healthy. It protects consumers. If bulk cooking oil is subsidized, it means that the government violates the Consumer Protection Law itself," he explained.

"Where a product is sold to the people, it is obligatory to include the ingredients in the product. Is there bulk oil or not? There isn't," he said.