BENGKULU – Vice chairman of The House of Regional Representative of Republic of Indonesia (DPD RI) Sultan B Najamudin challenged the government to evaluate business permits for palm oil plantations and palm oil or CPO processing companies that tend to prioritize export needs to the point of disrupting the domestic supply of cooking oil.
“We are very concerned about the efforts of the community, especially mothers who have to queue and are pushed into crowds because they are scrambling to buy cooking oil in many areas. A very paradoxical sight in the largest palm oil producing country in the world,” said Sultan through his official statement on Friday (4/3).
According to Sultan, the cooking oil crisis has greatly affected economic activity and public consumption.
Millions of micro, small, and medium enterprises (UMKM) are very dependent on the presence of cooking oil as one of their production inputs. Especially in the food processing and culinary industries.
But it is very unfortunate, he continued, that this situation can’t be controlled by the government.
The state seems to be subdued to the hegemony of a very capitalistic free market. It indeed contradicts the economic principles of Pancasila as outlined by the constitution.
“If corporations cannot cooperate to prioritize domestic interests after extracting natural resources, then the state is obliged to show its power to market players as a form of commitment to protect national interests,” said this former chairman of the Bengkulu HIPMI.
In the end, according to him, it is not an exaggeration if in the midst of this depressed situation, the state shows its power in front of the market.
We challenge the government to evaluate the business permits of palm oil plantations and CPO companies that are currently operating, he said.
In addition, this former Vice Governor of Bengkulu–the west coast province of Sumatra Island–also encouraged the Food Task Force and the National Food Agency to carry out intensive control over the distribution of cooking oil and other food products.
We hope that the food supply chain must be ensured to be safe and facile before any food product is exported, that is the essence of self-sufficiency.
“In the context of cooking oil, the ministry of industry and the ministry of trade are the parties that must actively solve this almost unprecedented problem. Hopefully this phenomenon will end soon and become the last crisis,” he concluded.
