ANTARA - The Cilacap district branch of the Indonesian Farmers Association (HKTI) has urged the local government to immediately conduct rice market operation in the district.
"Market operation should be immediately conducted to stabilize fluctuating rice prices in Cilacap," local HKTI spokesman Sudarno said here on Friday.
According to him, the rise of rice prices was actually beneficial to the farmers, although some people, especially those with unstable income, had voiced complaints.
In addition, Sudarno said the rise of rice prices was something natural because the prices of other basic necessaries had been raised.
Meanwhile, Central Java's Legislative Assembly (DPRD) on Thursday urged the regional government to immediately conduct a rice market operation in the province.
A spokesman for the assembly's Commission B, M Haris, said in Semarang on Thursday rice prices in Central Java had risen by at least 20 percent and therefore market operations were urgently needed.
"The price of rice with medium quality, consumed by most of the people in the province, has soared by about 20 percent," said the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician.
The market operations were needed to stabilize the rice prices at local markets and make them affordable to consumers, he said.
"Rice prices continue to rise here and therefore we want the Central Java administration to intervene in the local rice markets," Haris said.
The State Logistics Agency (Bulog) had a sufficient rice stock to conduct market operations, Haris said.
He said the market operations were an effort to stabilize rice prices while waiting for Bulog to distribute rice with medium quality to low-income people in the province.
"Speeding up the rice distribution to poor people is also one of the ways to stabilize the prices of the commodity," Haris said, adding however that the mechanism was entirely up to the district heads and mayors (azm)
