JAKARTA - Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi appealed to the public not to make large purchases or panic buying of cooking oil products.
"I urge the public not to panic buying. Buy enough. If you need, you usually order two four-liter pouches for one house, you don't have to buy two or even three cartons," said the Trade Minister in his statement, quoted from Antara, Saturday, March 12.
This is because the Minister of Trade is committed to continuously monitoring the availability of cooking oil at prices according to the highest retail price (HET).
Lutfi emphasized that strict action would be taken against the perpetrators of hoarding cooking oil, which caused prices to fluctuate in the midst of a regional supply surplus.
Lutfi assesses that the public does not need to worry about the stock of cooking oil. The government, said Lutfi, will continue to maintain the availability of cooking oil supplies for the community.
"The current government continues to encourage even distribution of cooking oil throughout Indonesia, considering that the supply of cooking oil is actually quite abundant," said Lutfi.
According to Lutfi, the act of "panic buying" is a selfish attitude that does not think about other people who also need cooking oil. Lutfi believes that "panic buying" will have a negative impact on the government's efforts to maintain the availability of cooking oil in the market.
Lutfi said that "panic buying" will make the production and distribution of cooking oil feel less in the market.
"After all, cooking oil production capacity is limited and not comparable to public purchases, especially if panic buying will take a lot of stock in the market," said Lutfi.
Lutfi conveyed a number of possible causes for the scarcity of cooking oil in the market, such as leaks for industries which were then sold at prices not according to government standards and smuggling from a number of individuals.
The Trade Minister admitted that the scarcity of cooking oil is very ironic considering the availability of cooking oil, but it cannot be seen in the market because of hoarding carried out by unscrupulous individuals.
"The stockpile is even sold abroad at prices that apply at the global level, this is already against the law," said Lutfi.
Lutfi admitted that he would not hesitate to take firm action against those who caused the scarcity of cooking oil.
Head of the National Food Agency Arief Prasetyo Adi himself has held a coordination meeting with a number of institutions and business actors. During the meeting, it was discussed and it was agreed that the inclusion of a price tag on the cooking oil packaging was agreed.
Arief conveyed that the coordination meeting was aimed at preventing speculation about an increase in selling prices which could harm the public. Arief said, with this step, it is hoped that the community will get cooking oil at a price that is in accordance with the HET.
"To overcome this situation, all interested parties, especially the cooking oil business players, need to sit down together to equalize the spirit to provide a good level of service to the community," said Arief.
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