Difficult To Find Suppliers, The Price Of Cooking Oil In Garut Traditional Market Is Still Above Rp. 14,000/liter

GARUT - The Government of Garut Regency, West Java has difficulty finding suppliers for cheap cooking oil market activities according to the highest retail price (HET). As a result, prices in traditional markets are still above Rp. 14 thousand per liter.

"This (there are no suppliers) becomes a big problem when market operations in city districts cannot be carried out," said Head of the Garut Regency Industry, Trade, Energy and Mineral Resources Agency, Nia Gania Karyana, in Garut, Antara, Friday, February 4.

He said the regional government was continuously trying to monitor the availability of cooking oil in markets such as minimarkets, supermarkets, and traditional markets to ensure that there was no shortage of goods.

The local government, he said, had not been able to decide on a strategic policy to deal with rising cooking oil prices because the producers were outside Garut, including the central government's control.

If the Garut Regency Government allocates a budget for cooking oil subsidies, he said, of course, it must be prepared with suppliers of goods. Meanwhile, the current condition is that there are no suppliers willing to sell according to the government's policy for Rp. 14 thousand per liter.

"Even if we are going to subsidize through the budget, it will not be enough, because the goods must be there first, so the subsidized goods must be available, while cooking oil is very scarce," he said.

He revealed that many suppliers of cooking oil refused to carry out market operations, as well as when coordinating with Bulog, they could not sell cooking oil because they did not have stock.

While there are regions that carry out cooking oil market operations according to HET, he said, stocks are limited, suppliers cannot meet market needs in large quantities.

"Regarding market operations, some areas (outside Garut) have carried out market operations, and even then in very limited quantities," he said.

He conveyed that his staff continued to take steps to anticipate the scarcity of cooking oil, such as coordinating with suppliers and distributors in Garut Regency.

"We are coordinating with suppliers, distributors in Garut Regency so that it is not too late to supply to the market," he said.