Destroy smuggled sugar: House
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In the latest twist in a sugar smuggling saga, a commission at the House of Representatives recommended on Tuesday the 65,000 tons of illegally imported white sugar be destroyed so as not to put more pressure on already depressed domestic sugar prices.
It was among the conclusions taken by House Commission III for agricultural during a hearing with related ministries and associations, and the five licensed sugar importers -- PT Perkebunan (PTPN) IX, PTPN X, PTPN XI, PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia and PT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia.
"The move is needed to help stabilize sugar prices here and support local farmers, and also to teach a lesson to anyone involved (in the smuggling)," said I Made Urip, who presided over the meeting.
He was quick to add that the decision to destroy the sugar should be carried out in accordance with all existing regulations, meaning the final and binding results of an ongoing police investigation into the case must be received before any moves are made to destroy the sugar.
"Nevertheless, this should create certainty in the market that there will be action on the case and that the resolution will not hurt local farmers -- sentiments that should help support sugar prices in the market," I Made said.
The chairman of the Association of Indonesia's Sugarcane Farmers (APTRI), Arum Sabil, told legislators the uncertainty surrounding the case had pushed down local sugar prices.
"Sugar farmers are the ones bearing the brunt of the case, as prices are now rapidly falling, far below the about Rp 3,200 to Rp 3,300 in production costs a farmer has to pay to produce a kilo of sugar," Arum said.
The sugar saga first emerged when APTRI discovered some 56,000 tons of allegedly illegally imported sugar in warehouses in Jakarta, Bekasi and Bogor. The police later announced they had confiscated the sugar, as well as about 9,000 tons of smuggled sugar in Makassar, South Sulawesi, bringing the total to about 65,000 tons.
Based on ministerial decree, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has authorized only five companies as licensed sugar importers -- meaning any other parties importing sugar are classified as smugglers.
Minister of Industry and Trade Rini MS Soewandi has blamed the Association of Village Cooperatives (Inkud) for illegally importing the sugar, but Inkud has claimed it received approval from the minister.
Inkud claims it received a license to import sugar on behalf of PTPN X and formed a consortium to handle the purchases. The consortium then made a deal with PT Phoenix Commodities, which shipped the sugar from Thailand.
In a related development, the National Police have named six more suspects in the case -- bringing the total number of suspects so far to eight.
"We have named three officials from the customs and excise office, one from PT Phoenix and two others from the consortium," said National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung Sudjono.
The three officials from the customs and excise office have been identified as the head of the intelligence subunit, Muhammad Zein, the head of the Tanjung Priok investigation section, Yan Miral, and Tanjung Priok I service head Wahyono.
The two suspects from the consortium were identified as chairman Jack Tanim and his partner Andi Saleh, while the suspect from PT Phoenix Commodities Indonesia was identified as Raja Barnaje.
Two other people were earlier named as suspects in the case. They were identified as the head of general trade at Inkud, Abdul Waris Halid, and an employee at the consortium, Effendy Kemek. The pair are currently in detention.