Minya Kita Rises Price And Is Rare, Puan Says Subsidies Should Light People's Burden

Illustration (Photo: Doc Antara)

JAKARTA - The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, has asked the Government to tighten supervision of the distribution of subsidized cooking oil under the Minya Kita brand whose prices have increased. This is important because there has been a shortage of Minya Kita products since the discourse on the price increase began some time ago.

The scarcity of cooking oil that has occurred in Indonesia since the end of 2021 is still happening today. This cooking oil problem is one of the issues that is still a concern for the DPR," said Puan, Friday, July 19.

The government has officially raised the HeT Minya Kita to Rp. 15,700 per liter which will take effect next week. The adjustment of the Minya Kita HET at the consumer level is waiting for the issuance of the revised Regulation of the Minister of Trade No. 49 of 2022 where the regulation regulates the HET of subsidized cooking oil for Rp. 14,000 per liter or Rp. 15,500 per kilogram.

Initially, HET Minya Kita was proposed at IDR 15,500, but because the value of the US dollar strengthened, a middle road of IDR 15,700 per liter was chosen. The increase is also said to be in accordance with the increase in the price of other staples, such as rice which is currently experiencing an increase in prices.

Apart from that, the public has recently complained about the scarcity of Minya Kita products in the market. Since the circulation of information on the discourse on the increase in HeT Minyakita, this government subsidized cooking oil has begun to be difficult to obtain in the market.

Puan said the DPR had made various surveillance efforts to overcome the scarcity of oil in the market.

"There are several findings obtained by the DPR, including regarding the distribution of Minya Kita, which in our opinion the distribution of which still needs to be tightened and optimized," said the first woman who served as Chair of the DPR RI.

"This must be a note from the Government because in addition to rising prices before the announcement, the scarcity of subsidized cooking oil also occurs in the market," added Puan.

The price of Minya Kita is known to sell a lot of Rp. 16 thousand per liter since there has been no price increase announced today. According to traders, the increase in the selling price of Minya Kita is because they also get it at an up price.

Even the increase in the price of Minya Kita admitted that traders had occurred since Eid al-Fitr and then reached Rp. 17 RIB per liter. In addition to rising, traders also admit that it is difficult to get the supply of Minya Kita from distributors, causing scarcity.

Allegedly, this happened because of a price problem that made cooking oil entrepreneurs reluctant to sell their products. There are also allegations of hoarding and misappropriation of cooking oil by certain elements that caused the scarcity of MinyaKita to get worse.

Puan also asked the Government's firmness to smooth the distribution flow, because the high price of Minya Kita and the scarcity of stock made traders choose to sell non-subsidized cooking oil because the price is not much different.

Subsidy should be intended to ease the burden on the people. If it becomes burdensome for the community, it means that subsidy policy is not effective," said the former Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture.

Puan ensured that the DPR through the relevant commission would continue to monitor the scarcity of subsidized cooking oil in the market. The DPR also encourages the Government to take steps to overcome the scarcity of Minya Kita as quickly as possible.

"This includes overcoming allegations of hoarding and misappropriation of subsidized cooking oil that is detrimental to the community. Strict action if there are parties who commit fraud," said Puan.

Bung Karno's grandson also asked related institutions/ministers to work together optimally to overcome the scarcity and high price of Minya Kita in the market. Puan assessed that good collaboration between stakeholders can help overcome problems.

"If it is not addressed as quickly as possible, the problem of cooking oil can have an impact everywhere. Usually the price increase of a product will affect the prices of other commodities. Again, the people will be even more burdened, and we must avoid it," he said.

On the other hand, Puan asked DPR members to participate in monitoring the development of subsidized cooking oil and community commodities in the market. Because the results of the board's supervision will be a joint evaluation of the government.

"Take advantage of this recess by going down to the market to check the prices of basic necessities in their respective electoral districts. Absorb the aspirations and expectations of the people," said Puan.