Destroy smuggled sugar: House
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.