The Minister Of Trade Admits He Can't Fight Edible Oil Deviations In The Field, Rahmat Gobel: The State Loses And The Situation Is Dictated

Minister of Trade, M. Lutfi. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Trade)

JAKARTA - Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rachmat Gobel, opened his voice regarding the polemic of scarcity and spikes in cooking oil prices that occurred in Indonesia. According to him, the chaos in the cooking oil trade is a form of defeat and failure of the state to protect its people.

The symbol of defeat, said Gobel, could be seen from the statement of the Minister of Trade (Mendag) Muhammad Lutfi who admitted that he could not fight the irregularities that occurred in the field. The Trade Minister also said that he could not control the Migor mafia.

"This condition shows that the country lost and was dictated by the situation," said Gobel, Friday, March 18.

The NasDem politician then summarized the chaotic condition of the cooking oil trade in the country. He said the price of cooking oil had soared since December 2021, which continued with the scarcity of these basic necessities.

The government then set an upper limit on the highest retail price (HET) for packaged cooking oil of Rp. 14,000 per liter and bulk cooking oil of Rp. 11,500 per liter through Minister of Trade Regulation No. 6 of 2022. The government also provides subsidies so that the price of cooking oil remains affordable to the public.

However, Gobel continued, what happened was the scarcity of cooking oil. People have to scramble to get subsidized cooking oil which is sold through minimarkets and supermarkets. People also have to queue for hours to get subsidized cooking oil through market operations carried out by a number of parties.

As a result of the queue, there were residents who died after experiencing shortness of breath. Due to this scarcity, the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) even accused women of hoarding cooking oil in the kitchen.

Finally, starting Wednesday, March 16, the government revoked the HET provision and handed over the price of packaged cooking oil according to the market mechanism. Meanwhile, bulk cooking oil is subject to a new HET of Rp. 14,000 per liter.

After the announcement, suddenly cooking oil appeared in abundance in minimarkets and supermarkets at a price of around IDR 22,000-24,000 per liter.

The former Minister of Trade revealed that Indonesia is the largest producer of CPO and cooking oil in the world. So there should be no problem with production.

The problem, said Gobel, is the increasing world demand, so prices rise. With this increase, entrepreneurs prefer to sell their production abroad at a higher price than selling domestically at a price regulated by the government.

"This is the cause of the shortage. So it's not being hoarded by women like the statement by the asbun-dated official from the Ministry of Trade. It is proven that after the price limit is removed, cooking oil is abundant again," said Rahmat Gobel.

Previously, the Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi said theoretically, the fulfillment of cooking oil supply according to the Highest Retail Price or HET policy has been running as it should. However, in the field there are various deviations due to interference from irresponsible parties.

"This is speculation, our deduction is the Ministry of Trade, there are people who don't deserve to get results from this oil," said Lutfi in a working meeting with Commission VI DPR at the Parliament Complex, Jakarta, Thursday, March 17, 2022.

If there is a shortage of cooking oil at a price according to HET, according to him, it is caused by people taking advantage. These incidents occurred in Surabaya, Jakarta and North Sumatra.

The three areas, said Lutfi, are areas with an abundant supply of cooking oil. He detailed that in East Java, the distribution volume of cooking oil reached 91 million liters, Jakarta 85 million liters, and North Sumatra 60 million liters.

“These three areas have industries and ports. So, if this port leaves the people's port, one ton or 1 million liters, multiplied by Rp. 7,000, Rp. 8,000 is Rp. 8 to 9 billion," he said.

However, he admitted that the Ministry of Trade was powerless against these irregularities. "The Ministry of Trade has two articles, namely Law No. 7 and No. 8, but the grafts are less than that for the mafias and cooking oil speculators," he said.

When there is excess supply of cooking oil but then it leaks out and cannot be accounted for, said Lutfi, there will be a shortage and a spike in cooking oil prices in the field.