As people pack their bags ahead of the Christmas and New Year holiday, the government is taking measures in anticipation of food price hikes and travel congestion.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo called on his ministers to pay attention to these two areas in a meeting at the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday, saying the recent extreme weather and natural disasters in several regions may disrupt currently stable food prices and food stocks.

“We routinely hold meetings on maintaining the food supply and price stability, but we must take measures because of the extreme weather and natural disasters in some areas,” Jokowi said.

A number of regions have experienced storms and heavy rain because of Cyclone Cempaka and Cyclone Dahlia, while several parts of Jakarta were flooded last week.

Consumer prices, especially in food commodities, have remained stable, with annual inflation standing at 3.3 percent year-on-year (yoy) in November, lower than the 3.5 percent targeted by Bank Indonesia (BI).

However, Economic Coordinating Minister Darmin Nasution said there was a slight anomaly in chicken egg and chicken meat prices.

The chicken egg price was currently Rp 23,000 (US$1.69) per kilogram, slightly higher than the government’s reference price of Rp 22,000 per kilogram. Chicken meat, meanwhile, was Rp 33,000 per kilogram, also slightly higher than the Rp 32,000 reference price.

Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman suspected that speculation among traders had triggered price hikes in chicken egg and meat despite the current surplus in production, saying that he would order the existing food stability taskforce to investigate the matter.

A slight increase in price was also seen in medium quality rice, although it was yet to cause concern, Minister Darmin said.

As the extreme weather could extend into January, Darmin said the regions may need drying machines for rice husks because of the wetter harvest season, making the drying process take longer than usual.

Aside from food commodities, Jokowi stressed the importance of maintaining an adequate fuel supply amid increasing demand for transportation.

Around 1.21 million kiloliters of subsidized premium gasoline would be sufficient for 25 days, while 1.38 million kiloliters of subsidized solar diesel would be sufficient for 20.1 days, according to data cited by Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan.

Jokowi also urged Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi to ensure easy access for people to any mode of transportation during the holiday season, while calling on the National Police, Indonesian Military (TNI) and State Intelligence Agency to anticipate security threats and increase surveillance in public areas, such as airports, train stations and places of worship.

The holiday season will see a 1.5 percent increase in the number of people using public transportation, at a total of 20 million journeys, higher than the 19.7 million journeys recorded last year, according to the Transportation Ministry’s projection.

The number of passengers using air travel, which has seen a rise in demand in recent years, is predicted to increase 6.1 percent to 7.3 million passengers this year.

“We will provide additional slots for air travel, while also encouraging [airlines] to use wide body aircraft,” Minister Budi said.

National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has announced that it will add 73,158 additional seats during the holiday season and deploy bigger aircraft on its six busiest routes, including the route connecting Jakarta and
Denpasar, Bali.

To prevent congestion on toll roads, the Transportation Ministry will limit the access of freight vehicles from Dec. 23 to 24 and Dec. 30 to 31. Minister Budi said his officers would redirect freight vehicles away from toll roads should there be heavy congestion.

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