Bulog accused of collusion

JAKARTA (JP): The head of Jakarta's Organization of Land Transportation Owners, Aip Sjaifudin, has accused the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) of colluding with middle men in arranging the transportation of foodstuffs.

Aip told of a deal between Organda and Bulog which went sour in April when the latter failed to pay the full rental for the 200 or so hired trucks as agreed.

"Bulog would not pay the Rp 70 million (US$7,000) as agreed and instead it gave only Rp 14 million for 'gasoline'," he said.

He said when Organda officials pressed for the full payment, Bulog referred them to people who offered them less than the agreed upon amount.

Aip attributed Bulog's failure to honor the agreement with its difficulty in distributing basic necessities to the market because transport companies refused to cooperate, Antara reported.