Statement of President of the Republic of Indonesia During Inspection at Pasar Minggu Market in South Jakarta, Jakarta Special Capital Region, April 13, 2023
Journalist
How are staple food prices [at the market], Sir?
President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
The most important thing is that no price hike is reported. Prices of several food commodities have dropped, with only onion price that has increased. Prices of other food commodities such as egg, chicken, shallot remain stable. Price of chili has dropped from Rp90,000 – Rp100,000 per kilo to Rp35,000 – Rp40,000 per kilogram. I noticed that the price remains stable, meaning we have enough supply so the price has dropped. Only onion price increases.
Journalist
At several markets, supply of Minyakita (Government-sponsored cooking oil) is limited. Some people only get two liters while others only get one liter. How did it come about, Sir?
President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
The Government limits the supply to avoid bulk buying. Minyakita is cooking oil for low-income households who need it most. Why do we sell Minyakita only at Rp14,000 and why don’t we sell them in a massive scale? Because the target market is low-income residents only. I noticed that the supply is adequate at all markets.
Journalist
Regarding Eid, Sir, where will you celebrate it? In IKN (the Nusantara Capital) or Solo?
President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Until now, I am still thinking [to spend Eid] in Jakarta and Bogor.
Journalist
What did you and Mr. Ganjar talk about in the Presidential Car, Sir? Did you talk about U-20 [World Cup], Sir?
President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Yes.
Journalist
Based on the sting operation carried out by the KPK (Corruption Eradication Commission), there is a bribery indication in the South Sulawesi Railway project which you have previously inaugurated. Why was this corrupt project inaugurated?
President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Having zero problems in thousands of projects we undertake is impossible. There must be one or two problems. It’s common to find problems in huge projects. To that end, we continue to monitor it on the ground. Why? Because we still find problems in projects that are regularly monitored, much less in those that are not monitored at all. We directly inspect on the ground every day. Problems persist, much less in those that are not monitored at all. I noticed that it is common.
Journalist
How is the estimation of this year’s mudik (exodus), Sir?
President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
I have already said that the people must stay vigilant considering that the number of people traveling to their homes, based on a survey, is projected to jump to 123 million from 86 million, meaning that it increases by 45 percent. To that end, I have inspected ports at Bauheni, Merak considering that there were problems at those ports so we have prepared a larger capacity for people, from 31 thousand to 49 thousand people. We hope that there will be no problems.
Detailed field management has also been carried out – which ports are used for motorcycles, which ports are used for heavy vehicles, which ports are used for private cars and buses. Everything is set in different ports. We hope that last year’s problems won’t recur such as problems in Cikuasa Atas and Cikuasa Bawah, long queues caused by people who want to buy tickets. We have arranged everything. We hope there will be zero issue this year. We also inspected toll roads. Insyaallah, there will be no problems.
(AP/RAS/EP)