DKI Pemprov Prepares Meat Stock During Sales Strike

Illustration - A meat trader in a market in Jakarta (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - Acting Head (Plt) Head of DKI's Food, Maritime and Agricultural Security Service (KPKP) Suharini Eliawati admits that she knows the plan of a meat trader who will strike to sell starting today.

To maintain the availability of beef stock in Jakarta, Suharini Bil said that he had coordinated with related agencies in order to provide alternatives for frozen beef.

"The frozen stock of beef in Jakarta which is stored at Bulog DKI Jakarta-Banten, PD. Dharma Jaya, and importers is sufficient to meet the demand for beef when the strike occurs," Suharini told reporters, Wednesday, January 20.

Although he has prepared alternatives so that beef is still available, Suharini hopes that the Indonesian Meat Traders Association will give up its intention to stop selling. Because, this has an impact on other business actors.

"I hope the strike does not happen. Pity the small business actors who depend on beef raw materials, such as meatball sellers," he said.

Separately, the Indonesian Market Traders Association (IKAPPI) also appealed to meat traders in Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi (Jabodetabek) not to strike out to sell due to soaring beef prices on the market so that meat traders were quiet buyers.

"We ask meat traders throughout Jabodetabek so that meat traders do not strike to sell as a sign of protest, but (sufficiently) reduce sales volume," said Chairman of IKAPPI Abdullah Mansuri.

Abdullah asked the meat traders to rethink the strike for three days starting January 20, 2021. Home-based stalls (such as warteg, Padang food stalls, Sundanese food stalls, home-made nasi uduk stalls and so on) still have to get supplies from meat traders at the market throughout Jabodetabek amidst their continued weakening condition.

Considering that market conditions are increasingly quiet and purchasing power is decreasing, it is feared that if all meat traders strike it will have an effect on the absence of other traders. "Therefore we ask that the strike action for the next three days be rethought," wrote Abdullah.

For information, the increase in the price of beef and live cattle from Australia has resulted in an increase in the price of meat in Indonesia. The Meat Traders Association in Jabodetabek responded to this price increase with a strike planned from Wednesday, January 20 to Friday, January 22, 2021.

Over the last few days, the price of pure beef has reached IDR 120 thousand per kilogram (kg), whereas it is usually around IDR 110 thousand to IDR 114 thousand per kg.

Meanwhile, the price of hamstring beef has reached Rp. 126,000 per kg over the last few days, even though the price is usually more than Rp. 100,000 per kg.