Try to keep everyone calmJakarta (ANTARA) - Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian on Monday listed 10 measures that can be applied by regional administrations to control inflation.
"The first is the issue of controlling inflation, please truly put it as priority issue. I understand that fellow regional leaders all have a lot of problems in their respective regions, but the issue of inflation is just like overcoming a pandemic, make it the number one issue," Minister Karnavian said at a regional inflation control coordination meeting here on Monday.
The second measure underlines the importance of public communication, he said. Regional governments must not make mistakes in delivering messages or communicating information as that could stir panic among people, he explained.
"Try to keep everyone calm," he said.
Third, regional governments must activate regional inflation control teams at the provincial, district, and city levels. The teams must improve collaboration, show consistency in performing their functions and duties, and conduct coordination meetings on a regular basis.
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Fourth, regional administrations must mobilize food task forces, whose duty is to report on food prices and commodity availability. The results of the reports will be checked by the Home Affairs Ministry, in terms of prices and availability, especially if there are any distribution problems.
Next, regions must monitor the disbursement of fuel oil subsidies with help from law enforcement agencies to make sure that they are allocated effectively and efficiently.
Sixth, there needs to be a movement to save electricity. Regional governments need to urge people to use electricity according to their needs.
Seventh, the initiative to plant fast-harvesting crops needs to be encouraged as an effort to meet household food availability. Everyone's participation, either from civil, military, or others, is necessary in the endeavor, the minister said.
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Eighth, regional governments also need to cooperate with other regions, including for the fulfillment of the demand for all strategic commodities, wherein regions with shortages can obtain commodities from regions with surplus stocks. In addition, interregional cooperation is also necessary in relation to commodity distribution transportation.
Ninth, local governments need to improve social safety nets such as unexpected expenditures, social assistance, village budgets, relocation of general allocation funds, and central social assistance.
Finally, Statistics Indonesia and Bank Indonesia must announce the inflation figures for districts and cities.
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Translator: Boyke Ledy W, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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