Cooking Oil Becomes A Rare Good, It's Time To Forcibly Call The Trade Minister To The DPR Who Has Been Absent 2 Times

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION VIA ANTARA

JAKARTA - Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sufmi Dasco, will forcibly summon the Minister of Trade, M. Lutfi, to attend a meeting at the DPR, explaining the issue of the scarcity of cooking oil that is happening in the community.

According to him, the House of Representatives had twice summoned the Minister of Trade to explain about the cooking oil issue, but he was never present.

"If there is a reason (for not attending) in the third invitation, the DPR will use the rules and authority to force the Minister of Trade to summon the DPR," Dasco said at the DPR RI Plenary Meeting at the Parliament Complex, Jakarta, Tuesday 15 March.

He said that his institution had difficulties in carrying out its supervisory function regarding the scarcity of cooking oil in Indonesia.

Dasco revealed that the DPR had summoned the Minister of Trade to explain the issue of the scarcity of cooking oil but had never attended for various reasons.

"Twice the Minister of Trade has been invited to consultation meetings, both of whom were unable to attend on the grounds that they were not necessarily able to attend and various other reasons," he said.

Therefore, he emphasized that the DPR will use its rules and authority to force the Minister of Trade to summon the DPR.

In the plenary meeting, member of Commission VI DPR RI Amin AK criticized the scarcity of cooking oil in various regions in Indonesia. According to him, due to the scarcity, people have to queue to get 1-2 liters of cooking oil, some even die.

"The chaotic governance in a country that produces 58 percent of palm oil in the world is an irony that has been going on for months. In 2021 our CPO production will be 46.88 million tons, in 2020 it will be 47.03 million tons, then in 2019 it will be 47. 18 million tons," he said.

He assessed that the government has various instruments to enforce the rules, for example Article 107 of Law Number 7 of 2014 concerning Trade mentions the imposition of imprisonment for perpetrators of hoarding basic needs.