Police turn up nothing in oil smuggling probe<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A preliminary police investigation into the
\nalleged smuggling of tons of oil from the Cilincing coast of
\nNorth Jakarta has yet to reveal any evidence, an officer said on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
\"We have made a thorough investigation following a report from
\nlocal residents, but we have not yet found any concrete
\nevidence,\" National Police chief Lt. Gen. Rusdihardjo said.<\/p>\n
The alleged crime has been in the headlines of local daily
\nnewspapers over the past three days.<\/p>\n
Rusdihardjo said state oil and gas company Pertamina should
\nhave been aware of any illegal activities.<\/p>\n
\"The problem is that up until now the police have not received
\nany reports from Pertamina,\" he explained.<\/p>\n
Kompas, which broke the story and ran it with a picture of
\nseveral fuel trucks, reported that the oil was allegedly sold by
\nlocal distributors at higher prices to certain parties, who then
\nshipped the oil overseas, possibly to Singapore.<\/p>\n
The distributors, who were supposed to sell it to local
\nmarkets, allegedly bought the oil from Pertamina. The operation,
\nwhich took place near the Pulau Seribu Police station in the
\nKalibaru area, had allegedly been going on for at least four
\nyears, causing losses to the state of billions of rupiah, it
\nreported.<\/p>\n
The site was reportedly deserted the day after the story ran.<\/p>\n
Director of supply and domestic trade for Pertamina, Harry
\nPoernomo, told The Jakarta Post from the South Sulawesi capital
\nof Makassar that his company had set up a team to deal with
\nillegal \"terminals\" located in the Unit III area, which covers
\nWest Java and Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"We have found 26 illegal terminals in Unit III. None of them
\nbelong to Pertamina. Ask the security officers about illegal
\nterminals, including smuggling and mixing the fuel,\" he said on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
Harry insisted that his company had nothing to do with oil
\nsmuggling, including the reports from Cilincing.<\/p>\n
\"It's impossible for Pertamina to track the flow of oil sold
\nor marketed by companies which bought Pertamina's products,\"
\nHarry said.<\/p>\n
He said Pertamina was \"very happy\" with the revelation of the
\nsmuggling operations.<\/p>\n
He said smuggling was a result of the kerosene and gasoline
\nsubsidy scheme to be applied by the government to help low income
\nbracket groups.<\/p>\n
It was therefore unfair to blame Pertamina in this case, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Harry was in Makassar to follow up on a find made by members
\nof Commission D of the South Sulawesi legislative council of an
\nillegal oil terminal which could accommodate 14 fuel trucks with
\na total capacity of 90,000 liters of oil.<\/p>\n
The terminal, owned by UD Minas Basindo, is not registered to
\nPertamina, but reportedly supplies between 25,000 and 30,000
\nliters of kerosene to regencies in South Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
Minister of Mines and Energy Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made an
\nimpromptu visit on Monday morning to several locations in North
\nJakarta, including the Marunda and Cilincing ports, where most of
\nthe fuel had been reportedly smuggled from.<\/p>\n
At Marunda port, Bambang, who was accompanied by several
\nPertamina executives, did not find the suspected smuggling
\noperation.<\/p>\n
At Cilincing, they found four barges loaded with kerosene,
\nincluding one bearing Pertamina's logo. It was unclear who owned
\nthe barges.<\/p>\n
Acting spokesman for Pertamina Ridwan Nyak Baik said a crew
\nmember from the barge denied the allegation that they were about
\nto smuggle the kerosene out of the country.<\/p>\n
Ridwan quoted local residents as saying that the crew of the
\nbarges usually worked at night loading the barge, and rested
\nduring the day.<\/p>\n
Bambang told reporters during the inspection that the
\ngovernment would seriously investigate the alleged trade and
\narrest any officials or security personnel who were connected
\nwith the smugglers.<\/p>\n
Separately, North Jakarta Police Col. Wisjnu Ahmad Sastro
\ndenied allegations that his personnel were possibly involved in
\nthe smuggling, which reportedly operated in front of a police
\nstation.<\/p>\n
The fuel trucks, he said, passed through a public area.<\/p>\n
\"The street is a public area and the police can not stop every
\npassing truck to check it just like that,\" Wisjnu said.<\/p>\n
Rusdihardjo promised to take stiff action against any police
\nofficers found guilty of taking part in the operation.
\n(ylt\/jsk\/06\/27\/sur)<\/p>",
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