T

he Surakarta municipal administration says it will increase monitoring of meat sales in traditional markets during Ramadhan after officials found unfit meat on offer during recent surprise inspections.

“We will focus our surveillance on the markets that have special meat kiosks,” the head of the Surakarta Agriculture Agency, Wenny Ekayanti, told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

Surakarta has 43 traditional markets, five of which have special areas for meat sales: Pasar Gede, Pasar Jongke, Pasar Nusukan, Pasar Kleco and Pasar Legi.

Wenny said that vendors who sold meat that failed to meet safety requirements would face sanctions from the agency.

During surprise inspections on Thursday at five traditional markets in the city, agriculture inspectors found glonggongan (water-injected) cow meat and rotting chicken heads.

The meat and the chicken heads were seized. The meat was returned to its seller after it was drained of the injected water while the chicken heads were destroyed.

“It is impossible for us to let these rotten chicken heads be traded. Traders selling bad meat and rotten chicken will be summoned for supervision,” Wenny said.

The agency has held surprise inspections of local markets during Ramadhan, when food consumption peaks in preparation for sahur, or pre-fast meals, followed by fast-breaking meals, according to Wenny.

She said it was difficult to control the sale of spoiled meat because of the high demand.

Wenny said that the meat released by the agency’s slaughterhouses had met all standards and that the meat that failed inspection likely came from outside Surakarta.

“There are many [vendors] and they are beyond our control. That’s why caution is needed,” Wenny added.

Pujiyanto, a meat trader in Nusukan market whose glonggongan was seized by inspectors, said he purchased the meat from Salatiga, Central Java, for Rp 47,000 (US$4.90) per kilogram and intended to resell it for Rp 57,000 per kilogram.

Meat released by the agency’s slaughterhouses, on the other hand, has been sold for Rp 72,000 per kilograms to traders who in turn resold the meat for Rp 75,000 to Rp 80,000 per kilogram.

“I bought the meat from Salatiga because it is really difficult to get one here,” Pujiyanto said, claiming that he did not know that the meat he sold contained too much water.