If It Is Difficult For Jakarta To Import Wheat Due To The Ukraine-Russia War, DPRD Asks Anies To Immediately Find A Solution

Illustration of wheat import. (Pexels/Tomasz Filipek)

JAKARTA - Indonesia, especially Jakarta, is predicted to find it difficult to get a supply of wheat due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and Russia. This was also acknowledged by the Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta, Ahmad Riza Patria.

Responding to this, Member of Commission B for the Economy of the DKI DPRD, Gilbert Simanjuntak, asked the DKI Provincial Government to immediately find a solution to the potential shortage of food and the impact on the price increase.

"The DKI Provincial Government cannot just remain silent because of the problem of importing wheat from Ukraine which is at war," Gilbert said in a short message, Sunday, March 6.

Gilbert said that the DKI Provincial Government, which manages food security, should immediately coordinate with the central government to prevent a shortage of wheat supply.

"Wheat imports are indeed regulated by the center, but the provincial government should coordinate so that supply to DKI does not decrease which makes prices rise, especially when demand rises before Eid. Now there is still time," said Gilbert.

Gilbert said that the DKI Provincial Government, through regional-owned enterprises (BUMD), could open the faucet for imports from countries other than Ukraine. "Wheat is abundant overseas, because their agriculture is advanced and it's the main food there," he continued.

Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta Riza Patria previously admitted that there was an increase in food prices in Jakarta ahead of the current month of Ramadan. Riza revealed that there are a number of reasons why food prices could rise in the market. It starts from limited availability to weather factors.

In fact, Riza also mentioned that the current state of war between Russia and Ukraine could also lead to an increase in food prices in the country, especially the capital city. However, at this time it has not felt the impact.

"Later, there will be other factors that have not yet been felt. There is a war between Ukraine and Russia. We import a huge amount of wheat from Ukraine," Riza said some time ago.

As is known, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of DKI Jakarta recorded the volume of wheat imports in 2019 as much as 3,056,903 kilograms and 3,237,687 in 2020.