Beer levy dispute needs inter-ministerial solution
Beer levy dispute needs inter-ministerial solution
JAKARTA (JP): Director General of Domestic Trade Djoko Mulyono
said yesterday that the best way to solve the beer levy dispute
in Bali is for several ministries to discuss it.
"It is the best procedure because several ministries are
involved in setting up the levy," Djoko was quoted by Antara as
saying.
He said that the provincial administration of Bali actually
has imposed, through a provincial ruling, a local levy of Rp 200
(8.6 U.S. cents) per bottle of beer.
The provincial administration then appointed PT Arbamass Multi
Invesco as its partner to collect the levies.
In practice, Arbamass raised the levy by 200 percent by
requiring other distributors to buy the levy stickers at Rp 600
for each bottle.
Last Thursday, Minister of Industry and Trade Tunky Ariwibowo
told reporters that he had been ordered by President Soeharto to
stop the private company, Arbamass, from collecting levies on
beer sales in Bali.
Tunky also promised that the government would issue a
regulation to end the dispute between Arbamass and beer brewers.
Djoko said that the provincial administration's ruling on the
beer levy was actually based on a directive from the Ministry of
Home Affairs.
The vice governor of Bali, Ahim Abdurahim, last week said the
local administration was preparing a comprehensive report on the
dispute for the ministry.
He said the appointment of the private company as the sole
distributor in Bali was based on governor's decree No. 521/1994.
He further argued that the decree was a legal product based on
a directive issued by the director general of regional autonomy
to provincial authorities in February 1994, saying that the
distribution of liquor should be controlled so that it was not so
readily available to young people.
"We have received reports from the Bali trade and industry
office about the dispute. Judging from the reports, we came to
the conclusion that the case needs an interdepartmental
solution," Djoko said. (08)