TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The House of Representatives (DPR) Commission IV member Hamid Noor asserted that the agriculture sector must be prioritized during the current coronavirus outbreak emergency in Indonesia as it is the basic needs of the people.

"The most important thing in this situation is the assurance of access to foods that are easily obtained at a reasonable or normal price for all communities," said Hamid in a written statement on Monday, March 23, 2020.

Hamid assessed that the spread of the virus infection or COVID-19 was severely threatening and had wide-ranging impacts on various sectors. One of the impacts was the disruption of farmers’ production in all regions.

"So I ask the government to issue statements and regulations ensuring farmers' income through maintaining prices of commodities that are not hampered by import activities," said Hamid.

On another occasion, Indonesian Market Traders Association Deputy Chairman Sarman Simanjorang also demanded the government to ensure an abundant supply of foods.
This must be thoroughly calculated by the government to maintain market and community psychology," said Sarman.

Sarman admitted that the price of basic commodities started to increase despite it still tolerable. "A price hike of five to ten percent is still reasonable, but it would be better if it’s normal," he added.

In the wake of the coronavirus crisis, the Ministry of Agriculture guaranteed the fulfillment of eleven basic needs, viz. rice, corn, chicken, beef, eggs, cooking oil, granulated sugar, red chili, cayenne pepper, onion, and garlic in a bid to support the implementation of working from home policy, which was imposed by the central government to break the chain of the COVID-19 contagion.

CAESAR AKBAR