REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The government again kicked off market operations to stabilize the prices of food items during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and ahead of the Eid al-Fitri festivities.

The market operations are not only being conducted in Jakarta and its suburban areas but also across the country, Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman noted here, Thursday.

"The market operation is a measure to stabilize the prices and prevent price hikes by supplying adequate food items to the market," the minister stated during the launch of the market operations conducted by the agriculture minister, officials of the National Logistics Agency (Bulog), and lawmakers from the House of Representatives' Commission IV.

The minister cited as an example the stock of shallots that currently reaches some 200 thousand tons, while the national demand is only 90 to 100 thousand tons per month.

The government has no plans to import shallots until Eid al-Fitri is over later, he added.

Some 22 trucks loaded with rice, sugar, cooking oil, shallots, and chili were dispatched to 20 strategic locations in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi (Jabodetabek) today, Fadzri Sentosa, Bulog's director of business planning and development, stated at Kramat Jati Main Market, one of the locations of the market operation activities.

The market operation is being conducted in cooperation with Bulog, the trade ministry, and the transportation ministry.

Manager of Kramat Jati Main Market Salam noted that the market operation indeed helps to stabilize the food prices, which usually tend to increase during Ramadan.

"The market operation does not affect the traders and in fact helps them, as the prices decrease following adequate supplies," he stated.

In anticipation of the price hikes, President Joko Widodo had earlier officiated the launch of simultaneous market operations for food commodities in Cimahi, West Java.

Apart from West Java, market operations were also launched in South Sumatra, North Sumatra, East Java, Central Java, Jakarta, and South Sulawesi.

In the first phase of the market operations, Bulog plans to daily provide 300 thousand tons of rice, 50-100 tons of shallots, and 25 thousand tons of sugar.

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