Four shop owners questioned for hoarding supplies<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): City Police chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata
\nconfirmed yesterday that his office was investigating four shop
\nowners suspected of hoarding food supplies to be sold later at
\nhigher prices.<\/p>\n
He said that the four shop owners from Jakarta and Bekasi,
\nWest Java, were being questioned and that they could be charged
\nwith subversion.<\/p>\n
\"So far, none of them have been detained,\" he said, refusing
\nto identify the owners or where the stores were located.<\/p>\n
He said that the investigation was launched following reports
\nthat some traders were keeping their shops closed even though
\ntheir shelves were sufficiently stocked.<\/p>\n
He reiterated that any vendor who was found holding back the
\nsale of staple items could be charged with subversion.<\/p>\n
\"If they hoard food supplies for their own interests, they
\ncould be charged under the Criminal Code or even the subversion
\nlaw,\" he told journalists during inspections on labor-intensive
\nprojects in West Jakarta and South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
According to City Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang,
\nvendors who did not make their stocks available to customers,
\nespecially during recent monetary crisis, could be charged under
\nArticle 1 (d) of the 1963 Anti-Corruption Law Number 11.<\/p>\n
\"The four vendors were questioned on alleged activities which
\nhave impeded the government's distribution ... and trade of
\nstaple foods to the public by intentionally hoarding their stocks
\nfor their own interests,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Aritonang said if found guilty, the vendors could receive a
\nsentence of up to 20 years in prison. \"That's if they're not
\nsentenced to death or for life.\"<\/p>\n
He refused to give the criteria of what constituted an act of
\nsubversion made by a shop owner in his or her business practices.<\/p>\n
\"If I disclosed that, then it would be used by the vendors as
\nalibis. The point is, there are some legal aspects regarding
\nstockpiling activities which should not be broken by the
\nvendors,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that starting yesterday, his office would take action
\nagainst any shop owner found intentionally stockpiling
\ncommodities for his or her own profit.<\/p>\n
\"Up until recently, we only gave warnings to shop owners who
\nclosed their stores for unclear reasons or who stockpiled
\ncommodities to be sold later at higher prices. But now we'll
\npunish them,\" said Aritonang.<\/p>\n
He said that his office was still waiting to possibly take
\nover an investigation recently started by the Bekasi military
\ndistrict on a trader suspected of hoarding goods.<\/p>\n
A source at the Bekasi military district office said a shop
\nowner, identified only as Ru, had been questioned for allegedly
\nhoarding food supplies at his store in the Taman Galaxy shopping
\narea.<\/p>\n
The officer, who asked for anonymity, said that the vendor
\nadmitted that he had intentionally held back from selling some of
\nhis food supplies because he feared that he would not be able to
\nrestock his store for a long period of time.<\/p>\n
The food supplies held back by Ru had been taken to the market
\nand sold for a discounted price by the military office, he said.<\/p>\n
Chief of the Jakarta Military Command, Maj. Gen. Sjafrie
\nSjamsoeddin, said that his office had provided 100 trucks and
\ntheir personnel to help distribute staple foods to markets.<\/p>\n
He said he had made some military warehouses available to
\nstore commodities prior to distribution.<\/p>\n
The military office was also on alert to detect any problems
\nin supply distribution, he said. (09\/cst)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/four-shop-owners-questioned-for-hoarding-supplies-1447893297",
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