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Minister sets task force on trail of 'meddling middlemen' for slashed chicken prices
The Agriculture Ministry has deployed its food task force to investigate alleged meddling in the sudden drop in the price of chicken meat.
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A worker monitors a broiler chicken farm in Gegesik district, Cirebon regency, West Java.
(kompas.com/Abdullah Fikri Ashri)
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griculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman blames middlemen for their role in contributing to the recent steep drop in chicken meat prices that had incurred large losses for chicken farmers, who recently protested by handing out free live chickens to people.
“We have deployed members of the food task force to conduct an investigation. We are waiting for their report. We have prepared tough sanctions for those who [are found to] have played with the prices,” Amran over the weekend said in Pasuruhan, East Java, as quoted by Antara.
Amran said that a wide disparity existed between retail and farm-level prices for chicken meat, with the commodity being sold for Rp 30,000 (US$2.13) to Rp 40,000 per kilogram at markets, and for Rp 6,000 to Rp 10,000 per kilogram at the farm level. He added that he suspected irregularities in the supply chain had caused the gap.
The food task force were investigating the issue by visiting chicken farmers in East Java, Central Java, West Java and Lampung, and inquiring into the role of middlemen, he said.
Chicken farmers in several regions held a "free chicken giveaway" on Wednesday to protest the government's inattention to their plight, which they blamed on oversupply. In Yogyakarta, several people were reportedly trampled on when consumers jumped onto the trucks full of live chickens and started throwing the birds out to those below.
Amran said the government had tried to intervene in stabilizing food prices, including taking legal measures against those who had meddled with the price of certain commodities.
He said that some 400 individuals had been named as suspects for their alleged involvement in the “food mafia,” while 780 companies were under investigation. (bbn)
