Jakarta, May 16 -- Acting Deputy II of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) Edy Priyono stated that the high prices of food commodities in eastern Indonesia should not be accepted as normal.

"From the monitoring results, the price of basic necessities in Maluku, Papua, and all provinces in eastern Indonesia tend to be higher than in other regions," he remarked when met after the National Food Agency (Bapanas) Coordination Meeting with stakeholders in Jakarta on Friday.

"We do not want to treat this situation as normal, and we must find solutions to this problem," he stressed.

According to data presented at the coordination meeting, the price of red chilies in eastern Indonesia ranges from Rp76,923 (US$4.46) to Rp100,625 (US$5.87) per ki...