T

o help lower the skyrocketing price of sugarcane sugar, the East Java administration has considered allocating funds to subsidize the transportation costs of the commodity from distributors to warehouses across the province.

"We will try to help stabilize the price at Rp 8,000 per kilogram in the province," said Governor Soekarwo on the sidelines of a staple food market at the weekend.

The price of sugarcane sugar has been skyrocketing since the beginning of the Ramadan fasting month, from around Rp 6,800 to more than Rp 10,000 per kilogram.

He added that apart from the measure, the provincial administration would also keep conducting market operations to ensure that people were able to buy the commodity at affordable prices.

Soekarwo said that eight big sugar distributors in East Java had agreed to sell their sugar at Rp 7,500 per kilogram.

The administration will then pay for the transportation costs.

"We will allocate between Rp 200 and Rp 300 for every kilogram of sugar distributed," he said.

He expressed hope that retailers would apply a profit margin of Rp 200 per kilogram at the most and that sugar prices would stay at about Rp 8,000 per kilogram, a price that would stabilize the sugar market.

He claimed that with that price, both farmers and sugarcane mills would not suffer financial losses.

Cutting the distribution chain, according to Soekarwo, could prevent the price of sugar from increasing further.

That accounted for why, he said, his administration would keep cutting back the distribution chain until the prices stabilized.

The administration's assistant for economic and development, Chairul Djaelani, said that some sugar distributors had agreed to cooperate with the administration to hold sugar market operations and cheap markets.

Chairul said the administration had allocated 29,000 tons of sugar for the market operation program and 21,000 tons of sugar for the cheap markets.

The two programs are to be held during Ramadan, a time when the price of stable foods generally rises significantly.

The first market operation was kicked off last week at Bendul Merisi traditional market, where people on low incomes, who had already received coupons, could buy 2 kilograms of sugar for Rp 15,000.

A cheap market was also held last Friday at the East Java's Food Resilience Agency office, during which people were able to buy various foods at lower prices.