The Idul Fitri holidays have been blamed for slowing down the distribution of several staple foods in a number of regions in East Java, leading to higher prices.
In Surabaya, the prices of rice, wheat flour, rice flour and sugar remain as high as before Idul Fitri, or during the Ramadan fasting month.
It is common for staple food prices to significantly increase during the Idul Fitri holiday period.
Gun, a staple food merchant at Pasar Bendul Merisi traditional market in Surabaya, said Tuesday he had been waiting for a rice delivery for a few days.
He said he usually received rice every three days but he had yet to receive one since Idul Fitri, which fell on Sept. 20 this year.
Unfortunately, the stock he was selling was ordered before Idul Fitri, so he had priced them for less.
For a kilogram of superior quality Rojolele rice, for example, he had asked for Rp 6,000. During Ramadan, he sold it for Rp 5,800 per kilogram.
"I had no idea about the new price because the distributors have yet to deliver the stuff," Gun said.
He added would adjust the price once he received the new supply.
The same method of deciding prices was also widely practiced at the Pasar Wonokromo traditional market in Surabaya.
Udin, a rice seller at the market, said he had ordered new supplies of rice from his distributors but was told they could not yet fulfill the order as the employees in charge of doing so were still on holiday.
With old prices, a kiloliter of sugar was sold for Rp 9,300 at the market, while a kilogram of eggs were Rp 10,500 and a kilogram of non-branded cooking oil was Rp 8,500.
Several modern markets seem to have applied the same method, as a kilogram of sugar remained Rp 11,000, the same as during Ramadan.
Similarly, the price of rice flour was also relatively high due to the increased cost of rice.
A kilogram of rice flour was sold for Rp 7,400 while it was previously Rp 7,000.
Trade section head of the East Java Trade and Industry Agency, Arifin T Hariadi, said the distribution of staple foods could not yet been properly conducted as many distributors' employees were still on their Idul Fitri holiday leave.
Arifin said every distributor had its own holiday leave policy.
Therefore he expected that all staple food distributors in the province would soon resume their activities.
Arifin said he had so far ensured that the stock of basic foodstuffs in East Java was normal and advised the people not to worry about it.
"I am sure conditions will soon be back to normal again as people have finished their holiday," he said.
