Monitor 8 Tititk In West Java, Ombudsman Finds Cooking Oil Is Still Rare, Price Above Rp14,000/Liter

Cooking oil sold in one of the shops. (ANTARA/HO-Humas Bandung City Government)

JABAR - The Ombudsman of West Java Province found that cooking oil commodities on the market were still in scarcity after conducting direct monitoring to eight points ranging from markets to shops.

Head of the West Java Province Ombudsman Maladministration Prevention Assistant, Fitry Agustine, said that there was a shortage of cooking oil in traditional markets, especially for simple and premium packaging. In addition, the selling price is still above the highest retail price (HET).

"The government is expected to carry out market operations optimally for traditional markets, not only for modern stores or large retailers. So that the scarcity of cooking oil that occurs in traditional markets and grocery stores can be monitored and resolved," said Fitry in a statement received in Bandung, West Java, Antara, Tuesday, February 22.

The eight points monitored by the West Java Ombudsman are one traditional market, five traditional shops and grocery stores, and two modern shops or department stores (convenience stores). According to him, bulk cooking oil in traditional markets is sold with limited stock and the selling price is above the HET set by the government, which is Rp. 15,000 to Rp. 17,000 per liter.

In addition, cooking oil in traditional markets, especially for simple and premium packaging, is priced from IDR 17,000 to IDR 18,000 per liter.

From this monitoring, according to him, it is known that there is a phenomenon of traditional market traders buying cooking oil at modern retail stores, and then selling the cooking oil back to traditional markets at prices above HET.

"The selling price at modern shops or convenience stores is in accordance with HET and the stock is sufficient for normal sales, namely the stock of cooking oil sent is only reduced by about 10-20 percent compared to before the government's cooking oil HET policy," he said.

In addition, according to him, in the community there is still a panic buying phenomenon so that everyone can repeatedly buy cooking oil in a very close time.

"This has also resulted in some other people not getting their share of buying cooking oil," he said.