Strategic needs of the community are asked not to experience bans on logistics transportation during religious holidays – 2024-04-02 00:29:20

Illustration (Freepik)

Beverage traders at tourist attractions in Jakarta such as Ancol, Taman Mini Indonesia, and Ragunan admit that they often run out of stock selling bottled drinking water (AMDK) during national religious holidays (HBKN), especially during Eid and Christmas. It is considered that AMDK has now become a strategic need in society.

A drinks trader in Ancol, Rahaman, said he could sell 5 times more bottled water a day during the Eid and New Year holidays compared to normal days. “Yes, the results are good during the Eid and New Year holidays. Sales run out quickly, in fact sometimes there is no more stock,” he said.

Not only in Ancol, bottled drinking water traders in the Taman Mini Indonesia area are also no less busy with buyers during the Eid and New Year holidays. Mrs. Renita, who usually hangs out at the main entrance of Taman Mini, for example, admits that her sales are fantastic during the Eid and New Year holidays.

Bottled water sellers at Ragunan Zoo also feel the same situation. Sukarno, a drinking water seller who has been selling around the Ragunan tourist attraction for decades, admitted that people who buy bottled drinking water at his place experience an extraordinary increase during the Eid and New Year holidays. “The increase could be 3 times higher than normal days,” he said.

Director of Trade and Logistics Facilities at the Directorate General of Domestic Trade, Ministry of Trade (Kemendag), Sugy Atmanto, admitted that even though it is not yet classified as basic necessities, AMDK has now become a strategic item in society. Therefore, the Ministry of Trade requested that this AMDK exclude goods prohibited in the Joint Decree (SKB) regarding the prohibition of goods transport vehicles on every major religious holiday.

“Even though AMDK is not considered a basic commodity, it is classified as a strategic ingredient that society needs at this time, especially during major religious holidays,” he explained in writing.

Also read: Transportation policies during religious holidays are asked not only to accommodate private transportation

He said that the need for AMDK as national religious holidays approach, the public’s need for AMDK always increases. He said, data shows that during HBKN, the average community need for AMDK increased by around 60%. In Jabodetabek the increase was 39%, Java 40%, and other areas 21%. “Actually, we will and will continue to convey things like this to the Ministry of Transportation for consideration in the next SKB,” he said.

Lecturer and Head of the Center for Supply Chain Studies at Parahyangan Catholic University (Unpar), Sani Susanto, said that AMDK is actually included in the basic needs of society. According to him, on every major religious holiday such as Eid, Christmas and Chinese New Year, the public’s need for AMDK will definitely increase.

Therefore, according to him, the AMDK factory must be allowed to continue operating even during religious holidays. Because, if there is a ban on three-axis logistics transportation for AMDK companies, it will clearly make it very difficult for them to distribute bottled drinking water to the public. “If logistics transportation is limited, they will definitely have difficulty distributing their products to consumers. This can cause a scarcity of drinking water in the community. “Even though AMDK has become something that society really needs at this time,” he said.

Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) 2021 states that the contribution of AMDK and the food and beverage industry to the national economy is 6.4 percent of GDP and 38.05 percent of the total national non-oil and gas industry. BPS data also shows that the majority or 40.64% of Indonesian households use branded bottled water as their source of drinking water. (Z-7)