Lutfi stated in Jambi on Friday that the stock of cooking oil in Jambi was sufficient. The figure received in the reports and the figure sold in practice match each other, he added.
The minister's entourage comprised Governor of Jambi, Al Haris, and Directorate General of Foreign and Domestic Trade at the Trade Ministry. They visited several shops in the market.
The local government also regulated the distribution of cooking oil in the market to ensure there was no extended period of shortage.
"In Jambi, no congestion of people occurred for queuing to buy cooking oil," the minister revealed.
On February 14-24, 2022, Jambi Province had in stock more than five million liters of cooking oil that was sufficient to meet the need or demand for cooking oil for a month.
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The price of premium packaged oil had been set in accordance with the Lowest Retail Price (HET) decided by the Trade Ministry, at Rp14 thousand per liter. Bulk cooking oil was oftentimes still sold above the set price, though Minister Lutfi was confident that it would follow the set price in the following week.
Lutfi stated that as of February 14, a stock of over 190 million liters of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) was available to meet the CPO needs for the next 20 days.
The minister reminded all business players of the cooking oil retail business to not abuse their authority in setting the price. He stated that the ministry will dispatch the Food Task Force to ensure that goods are available and affordable for all.
Jambi Governor, Al Haris, stated that the Jambi Provincial Government's Regional Inflation Control Team (TPID) building in the market functioned to maintain the availability of oil in the market. Firm actions would be taken if any shops failed to abide by the rules.
Haris stated that his administration and the regional leadership coordination forum often inspected markets to ensure the availability of food stocks.
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Translator: M Hanapi, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Suharto
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