16 still being questioned over rice delivery orders

JAKARTA (JP): Police are still questioning 16 people, including an official of the city's logistics agency (Dolog Jaya), for their alleged role in the illegal transaction and possession of rice delivery orders, an official said on Sunday.

Not revealing the identities of the suspects, city police spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang said the 16 people were apprehended on Friday night at the Dolog Jaya office on Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan, North Jakarta, by a special police team, which was set up to investigate rice distribution violations in the capital.

"They are still being questioned for alleged violations of rice transactions," Aritonang told reporters.

The Dolog Jaya official, he said, is the head of the distribution section. The remaining 15 people allegedly possessed rice delivery orders but none of their names were found on Dolog's official distributors list, he added.

According to the existing regulations, he said, only those who hold rice delivery orders could purchase rice directly from Dolog, whose prices are much cheaper than market prices.

Police therefore suspect the 15 people currently under investigation obtained the delivery orders through illegal transactions with the official distributors for their own benefit, he said.

Besides the illegal possession of the delivery orders, police "are also investigating whether or not the 15 people are also hoarding rice," Aritonang said.

As in many other parts of the country, the capital has seen the price of rice skyrocket in the past two months.

In an attempt to stabilize the price, the city police have been assigned to probe the distribution network.

According to Aritonang, police summoned Dolog Jaya deputy head Saean Ahmad for questioning on Saturday following the confiscation of 2,280 metric tons of rice belonging to Dolog.

One thousand nine hundred tons were seized at Sunda Kelapa harbor in North Jakarta as it was being prepared to be exported to Kuching, Malaysia.

The rice was found at five boats, five containers, five trucks and three warehouses at the harbor.

The remaining 380 tons were seized from two traders in Bekasi. It was found they mixed bad quality rice and good quality rice before selling it on the open market to gain a greater profit, Aritonang said.

Under police supervision, some 300 tons of the confiscated rice were sold to the public on Sunday at several markets around the city at the price Rp 2,000 per kilogram, compared to the market of price of more than Rp 3,000 per kilogram.

Aritonang said the city police were also investigating the discovery of 80,000 tons of rice belonging to Dolog Jaya which was kept at a rented warehouse in Pulogadung industrial estate in East Jakarta.

"How could Dolog Jaya keep the rice, which has started to spoil, while many people can hardly afford to buy it at the moment," he said.

The rice had allegedly been kept at the warehouse for more than six months, he said.

Saean Ahmad confirmed on Saturday that the rice was part of Dolog's stock.

The rice was kept at the private warehouse because the Dolog warehouses in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, were already full of imported rice, he said.

He denied that the rice was hoarded, saying that it could be sold to other areas in the country.

But Dolog head Ahmad Zawawi told reporters on Saturday that the stock was only for Jakarta's needs. (jun)