Cooking Oil Shortage Mocks Palm Oil-Rich Island

The people of Kalimantan should be connoisseurs of cooking oil that is cheap and free from shortages. However, they are enduring the opposite situation.

KOMPAS/DIONISIUS REYNALDO TRIWIBOWO

The customary forest area in Kinpan which was converted into an oil palm plantation, in Lamandau Regency, Central Kalimantan, Wednesday (9/9/2020).

What an irony. While Kalimantan is one of the largest crude palm oil-producing regions in Indonesia, the local people are struggling to cope with the scarcity of cooking oil. People who often clash with oil palm companies and palm oil producers have found it either difficult or unreasonably expensive to buy cooking oil because of its scarcity.

The country has been gripped by a cooking oil shortage, including people living off the coast of Balikpapan Bay, East Kalimantan. No minimarkets exist near fishing villages such as Jenebora, Gresik, Kampung Baru, and Pantai Lango, so village residents have to cross the bay to downtown Balikpapan to procure cooking oil and other basic needs.