JAKARTA - Commission VI of the DPR has asked ministers not to confuse the people due to differences of opinion. This follows the issue of a three-fold increase in the price of instant noodles due to the difficulty in world wheat supply.
"The dissynchronization of data and studies conducted between ministries or government agencies has the potential to cause public unrest," said Member of Commission VI of the DPR, Andre Rosiade, Thursday, August 11.
As is known, Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo warned of the threat of a three-fold increase in the price of instant noodles due to the domino effect of the Russo-Ukrainian war which triggered limited supply and spikes in world wheat prices.
The Minister of Agriculture's statement was denied by the Minister of Trade, Zulkifli Hasan, who said that there had been a downward trend in the price of wheat as a raw material for instant noodles.
Andre criticized the differences of opinion between the two ministers of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
"Don't let one minister's statement contradict the other minister's statement. Don't confuse and panic the public," he said.
Andre reminded ministers to improve coordination. The difference of opinion of the ministers is considered to give the impression that there is no cabinet meeting or government coordination meeting to discuss strategic issues.
"We ask the ministers under Pak Jokowi to have good coordination. So that the voice that comes out of the government is one,” said Andre.
"This will confuse the people. One said it would go up three times, one said no. In the end, this will cause a commotion if the price of instant noodles goes up three times," continued the legislator from the West Sumatra I electoral district.
Andre reminded that the wheat issue is a strategic problem because it involves global trade. Even President Jokowi went directly to carry out diplomacy to Ukraine and Russia, which are wheat distributor countries.
“This has happened many times, you know, the voices are often different. This needs to be the attention of the president to ensure how his ministers have good coordination with each other,” said Andre.
Commission VI of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia in charge of trade affairs also urged the Government to immediately improve the food database. That way, said Andre, the resulting policies are appropriate and beneficial for the people.
“The government must immediately evaluate and coordinate related to food data. In addition, public transparency must be carried out so that people know exactly the risks faced in the midst of the threat of a world food crisis," he said.
Furthermore, Andre encouraged the Government to open lines of cooperation with various other wheat producing countries. This is to anticipate shortages when world political dynamics occur.
"Hopefully the availability of food for the people will remain safe in the event of crop failure, natural disasters, climate change, or geopolitical factors such as what happened with Ukraine and Russia. So it really has to be anticipated in minimizing the disruption of food supply," said Andre.
In addition, the DPR reminded that the supervision of the management of the distribution of basic commodities could be continuously improved by utilizing information technology. Andre also added that the long and complicated food distribution chain must be trimmed to ensure the affordability of food prices.
"Then the food subsidy and energy subsidy programs that support food price stability must continue to be carried out by the central and regional governments," he said.
"There should be no more spikes in food prices due to a lack of anticipation of various fluctuations or phenomena that occur," concluded Andre.
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