Jakarta to sell cheap beef shortly before holiday

Jakarta to sell cheap beef shortly before holiday
Indah Setiawati , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 09/12/2009 2:34 PM | Jakarta

Jakarta administration will hold a so-called “cheap market” in the capital on for three days, starting Sept. 17, before the Idul Fitri holiday, where beef be sold at a more affordable rate as prices on the local market soar.

“At the cheap market, beef will be sold at Rp 49,000 (around US$5) per kilogram,” Oloan Siregar, the economic assistant of the city's Secretary, said on Saturday during Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo's inspection at two markets and a slaughter house in East Jakarta.

Currently local beef are sold at Rp 65,000 a kilogram, up from Rp 60,000 before the fasting month.

Prices of erishable products such as red chilies, beef and chicken usually go up a few days before the beginning of Ramadan and before Idul Fitri.

Ade Soeharsono, head of the city’s cooperatives, small and medium enterprises and trade agency, said Saturday that the administration would provide 38 tons of frozen beef during the cheap market operation.