…the operations conducted ahead of Christmas and New Year celebrations this time have involved a special time.
Ambon, Maluku (ANTARA) - Maluku Province is conducting surveillance operations targeting food distributors, retail shops, and supermarkets to prevent the sale of expired food ahead of Christmas and New Year.



The surveillance operations have involved a joint team of personnel from the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM), the Maluku provincial police, the Agriculture Office, the Fishery Office, and the Industry and Trade Office of Ambon city, head of the Maluku provincial Industry and Trade Office, Yahya Kota, said here on Saturday.


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The five-day surveillance operations will reinforce the supervision conducted by BPOM earlier, he added.



He said the operations aim to detect expired or damaged goods that are no longer fit for public consumption.



During the operations, the joint team will also monitor the movement of commodity prices, particularly the upper retail prices of such commodities as cooking oil, he informed.



The Indonesian government has set the upper retail price of cooking oil at Rp14 thousand per liter nationwide.


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Based on the result of the joint team's monitoring, the retail price of rice of premium quality has risen from Rp13,500 to Rp14 thousand per kilogram in the past week.



The joint team is also monitoring the availability of food stocks at the distributor level with the aim of preventing a shortage and price spike due to the disruption of distribution, among other things, he said.



"So, the Maluku Provincial Industry and Trade Office conducts surveillance operations not only ahead of Christmas and New Year celebrations, but also every day. But, the operations conducted ahead of Christmas and New Year celebrations this time have involved a special team,” he informed.



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Translator: John Soplanit, Suharto
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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