Jakarta – About 100 housewives, many with young children, on Wednesday gathered at Jakarta City Hall to demand serious government action to control soaring prices of basic goods.

"The people are hungry" said one of the posters carried by protestors demanding a meeting with Governor Sutiyoso who was not in his office. The housewives said that despite the government's announcement that it would import rice, the nation's main staple food was becoming increasingly unaffordable.

"We demand that (President B.J.) Habibie and Sutiyoso bring prices of essential goods down by distributing them to the right target and through the right channels," the demonstrators said in a statement distributed there.

The statement called on Sutiyoso and Habibie to distribute essential goods in a "just and transparent" manner. They said that current distribution channels were not effective and only helped businessmen or people who could still afford to buy the commodities at market prices.

Food and Horticulture Minister Saefuddin said earlier Wednesday that there was enough rice to meet the domestic demand for the next eight months with a total of some 9.2 million tonnes in rice stocks but admitted that high prices were a problem that the government had to overcome.