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