The Regional Inflation Control Team or TPID Manokwari ensures that the staple food stock in West Papua is sufficient for the fasting month of Ramadan. Besides, the stock is also safe until the celebration of Eid al Fitr 1444 H.
Hermus Indou, the Regent of Manokwari, also stated that the supply of staple food stocks is sufficient. It can fulfill the needs of Papuans during Ramadan and Eid. Furthermore, he also said that TPID always monitors the stock and price regularly through the market operation.
How to Ensure the Food Price Stability
TPID always ensures that the price of food commodities is always steady. Besides, it also makes sure that the traders sell good quality products. Therefore, this institution conducts market inspections on a regular basis.
Monitoring the price of food commodities is one of the strategies to control inflation. Hermus stated that the inflation in Manokwari was 6.83% in February 2023. So, he advises that everyone should be wise when they are shopping. The reason is that excessive shopping behavior can have a negative effect on the stability of prices.
Then, Hermus also asked all the sellers and distributors to pay attention to the quality of products and expiry date.
Additionally, The Head of Manokwari City Resort Police, Benny Simangunsong stated that the police also monitor the distribution of domestic food stock. The aim of this effort is to prevent food stock hoarding by traders.
So, the police officers will check the warehouse of the distributors. Then, if they find any traders who hoard staple food stocks, they will take legal action. It is because some rules regulate food stock hoarding for personal gain.
TPID Works with the Ministry of Agriculture to Maintain the Food Stock
The Ministry of Agriculture asks the stakeholders to monitor the availability of food stock for Ramadan. The Ministry works with the provincial government as well as other institutions to ensure the stock and price of 12 staple food.
Therefore, TPID collaborates with The Directorate General of Plantation to inspect several markets and retailers in Manokwari. They visit Orchid Supermarket, Sanggeng Market, and Hadi Supermarket to check whether the staple food ingredients are well-stocked.
During this inspection, they find that some basic necessities, such as cooking oil are sold in the supermarket. So, they ask the supermarket management to fill in the stock.
Then, after inspecting some markets, this joint team goes to the Bulog office in Manokwari to check the availability of rice. Firman, the Manager of Bulog Manokwari, said that the stock was sufficient for the next three months.
In order to maintain the availability of rice stock, Bulog will add 700 tons of rice. This effort will be able to maintain the rice stock for the Manokwari region for the next 5 months.
The Result of Market Inspection
So, what is the result of this market inspection? This joint team finds that the price of several commodities increased. For instance, the price of garlic and shallot is Rp50.000 per kg. Then, the price of granulated sugar is Rp18.000. Besides, the price of coconut oil is Rp35.000.
This team will take further action to solve the surging price of these commodities. For example, they will conduct a bazaar to cover the high prices of some commodities. This bazaar will sell cooking oil and granulated sugar at affordable prices.
Dedi Junaedi, the Director of Processing and Marketing of Plantation Products, states that the government hopes that Papua’s food stock is always available. Besides, the price of staple food is always under control.
So, the stock can always fulfill the needs of all households in West Papua, especially during Ramadan. Therefore, the government commits to doing its best to maintain food stock in West Papua. Also, they maintain the stability of the food price.
