Ban on import

Ban on import
of used clothes

From Warta Kota

The Department of Industry and Commerce seems to have made
every effort to ban the importation of used clothes into the
country. They have even burned bales of imported secondhand
clothes recently, arguing that they were potentially contaminated
with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which is currently
sweeping some Asian countries.

The government has argued that the importation of used clothes
was illegal and detrimental to the domestic garment industry, and
warned that imported used clothes could be contaminated with
SARS, even without conducting any laboratory tests.

Whatever the reasons may be, in my opinion, we are now
witnessing a bizarre policy imposed by the government. If they
claim that the importation of used clothes is illegal and harmful
to the domestic textile industry, why have they just started
fussing about it only recently? There must be something wrong
with our customs officers. And why has the government let it go
on this long? They should have taken action years ago.

Has the government thought about what the effects of the ban
will be on the many people whose livelihood depends on the
business? Has the government thought about providing them with a
new job when they are put out of business? To what extent has the
government ever cared about or focused attention on ordinary
people? The workers in this line of business are creative and
hard-working people who are doing their best to feed their
families.

CAHYO UTOMO

Jakarta