Cirebon, West Java (ANTARA) - Governor of West Java, M. Ridwan Kamil, has assured that stocks of food, especially staple goods, in the province are sufficient.

“In general, it (the stock) is safe. However, there are still findings of bulk cooking oil being sold at high prices,” he said here on Wednesday.

The distribution of bulk cooking oil in West Java is being carried out online through an application, he informed.

According to Kamil, the government has taken the step to prevent queues of people, especially during the fasting month of Ramadan.

He admitted that the region could not control the supply and demand of bulk cooking oil. Nevertheless, the provincial government has provided a solution that allows people to buy cooking oil through the application.

"Indeed, we cannot control the supply-demand, but at least we can help facilitate the buying method so that during the fasting month, there are no queues; no one faints again because everything is carried out online," Kamil said.

In Cirebon, the governor accompanied President Joko Widodo to monitor food stocks in several markets in the city.

The President also distributed cash assistance (BLT) to help people purchase cooking oil and provided business capital assistance to vendors.

Earlier, Deputy Minister of Trade, Jerry Sambuaga, had affirmed the ministry’s commitment to continuously monitoring and ensuring that food remains affordable and available during Ramadan and ahead of the Eid holidays.

"Almost every day, I visit traditional markets. We make sure from the vendors because we are committed to giving and ensuring that the prices are affordable, and the stocks are available," he told reporters after reviewing food prices at Baru Market, Bogor, West Java, on Tuesday.

The deputy minister assured that the supervision conducted by the food task force, Indonesian Military (TNI), and National Police (Polri) will continue until the 2022 Eid al-Fitr period.

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Translator: Khaerul Izan, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
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