Smuggling in Sabang involves officials<\/p>\n
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Sabang Island
\nAceh<\/p>\n
Amiruddin sits idly on a bench, casting his sight at the open
\nsea in front of Sabang harbor. There was not a single ship
\ndocking at the harbor that day.<\/p>\n
On a busy day he earns Rp 7,300 (70 U.S. cents) for every
\n1,000 kilograms of goods he carries on his back and so in total
\nearns an average of Rp 47,500.<\/p>\n
\"Even if there is a ship but it is not unloading its cargo,
\nthere is no work,\" said the well-built manual laborer at this
\nport located on the northern tip of Aceh province.<\/p>\n
Sabang was declared a free port in January 2000 by former
\npresident Abdurrahman Wahid, partly to allay the Acehnese demand
\nfor independence.<\/p>\n
As a Sabang native, the new status of the port has not brought
\nany change to his life, he said.<\/p>\n
\"The price of sugar here, for example, is the same as in Banda
\nAceh,\" he said referring to the capital of Aceh several hundred
\nkilometers from Sabang.<\/p>\n
\"Why is it so?\" he asked, \"shouldn't it be cheaper here since
\nthe commodity is unloaded here in bulk?\"<\/p>\n
In a more serious tone, he asked why those people should bring
\nin numerous luxury cars instead of soap, spoons, glasses and
\nother daily necessities?<\/p>\n
\"The shipment of luxury cars only benefits government
\nofficials,\" Amiruddin said.<\/p>\n
Sabang free port on the 154-square-kilometer island was closed
\nin 1985 after the widespread smuggling of electronic goods out of
\nthe island to other regions in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Now barely two years after it gained its former status,
\nsecond-hand luxury cars have taken the place of electronic goods.<\/p>\n
The cars range from BMWs to Pajeros and with Rp 50 million one
\ncan get a 1994 BMW 3181 or a Pajero. With Rp 70 million one gets
\na BMW 3189 made in 1995 or 1996.<\/p>\n
All these secondhand cars look brand new and ready to hit the
\nroad. To get the Nanggroe Aceh (NA) police license one only needs
\nto add Rp 20 million.<\/p>\n
All transactions take place between car traders-cum-smugglers
\nand the car importers.<\/p>\n
Joy, not his real name, said he owed his \"profession\" as a car
\ntrader to his uncle who is an army colonel.<\/p>\n
He claimed that he had never encountered any trouble in his
\n\"trade\" and he had smuggled cars out of the free port regularly
\nupon his uncle's instructions.<\/p>\n
\"This time I was asked to buy several BMWs,\" said the young
\nman who is also a university student during the day, \"they cost
\nRp 52 million each\".<\/p>\n
The cars are then sold in Banda Aceh and they can fetch a
\nprice of Rp 150 million each, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Outside Banda Aceh, they can fetch a higher price, up to Rp
\n350 million each.\"<\/p>\n
But to bring them out of Banda Aceh needs stronger backing, he
\nsaid, say a higher rank of military official or police officer.<\/p>\n
Head of Aceh Besar Police, Adj. Sr. Com. Alfons said the
\npolice were prepared to prevent smuggling and would never allow
\nits members to smuggle cars out of Sabang.<\/p>\n
\"We will mete out harsh punishment if they are found out,\" he
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
There has not been a single smuggling case in the last few
\nmonths, he said.<\/p>\n
Another car trader, M. Hadi said he was once asked by a high
\nranking police officer to take an Audi Metic out of Sabang using
\na fake police license.<\/p>\n
\"When I was stopped at the North Sumatra border, I only showed
\na letter of recommendation from the police officer, and was
\nallowed to continue my trip,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Hadi said he was paid Rp 1.5 million for his service.<\/p>\n
What do people like Amiruddin get from the free port?<\/p>\n
\"Secondhand clothes, for sure,\" Amiruddin said with a smile,
\n\"people like us can only buy such clothes at a good price\".<\/p>\n
He is not entirely wrong. Since the free port was opened,
\nimported secondhand clothes have become ubiquitous in the port
\ncity, mostly sold by side-street vendors.<\/p>",
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