E. Java police reopen taste enhancer factory
SURABAYA (JP): After being inoperative for one week, East Java Police discreetly lifted a closure order at the factory belonging to controversial taste enhancer producers PT Ajinomoto in Mojokerto, East Java, on Thursday afternoon.
The restriction was lifted at around 6 p.m. without prior notification being given to factory management, and performed after all employees had left the premises.
"The reversal of the closure does not mean that the legal proceedings against the four suspects will stop," Head of the East Java Police Detectives Chief Comr. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said on Friday.
All of the 1,500 employees in Mojokerto continued to go to work despite the factory having been sealed for nearly one week. No production has taken place.
Along with the factory's reopening, four suspects in the Ajinomoto case have also had their detention postponed. The suspects include technical director Yosuko Koyama, factory manager Hary Saksono, quality control manager Haryono and production manager Hartono.
"They were all released at midnight (Thursday) with a guarantee from the Japan Consulate General officer in Surabaya, N. Nomura," officer Bambang said, while adding that the release was not connected with President Abdurrahman Wahid's remark on Tuesday that Ajinomoto's monosodium glutamate (MSG) product is "halal" (allowable for consumption by Muslims).
The popular taste enhancer has been recalled from shelves across the country after the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) questioned its production process which used an extract derived from pigs to develop an enzyme required to create MSG.
Temporary reports stated that over 1,000 tons of Ajinomoto's MSG have been withdrawn from the market and placed at the company's warehouse in Mojokerto.
"We are still calculating the amount (of Ajinomoto's product) since every day more packages are pouring into the warehouse. The same thing also goes for the Masako and Sajiku taste enhancer," Susetyanto, of the company's General Affairs Department, said on Friday.
"We will have the final calculations on Monday as we have to coordinate this with the company's field officials and the police," he said.
The company has reportedly produced 10,000 tons of MSG using the pig enzyme. As many as 3,000 tons were distributed domestically, while the remaining 7,000 tons were exported.
Ajinomoto has been given three weeks from Jan. 3 to withdraw all of its MSG products from the market.
"We're trying our best to meet the deadline as we do not want to create further discord among the public," Susetyanto said.
Separately, City Police Chief Insp. Gen. Mulyono Sulaiman said on Friday that police had released the three suspects of the Ajinomoto case who were in city police custody.
"They are, however, still suspects, and may be questioned again over the case, when the need arises. They were released late Thursday night," Mulyono told a media conference on Friday.
He identified the suspects as president of PT Ajinomoto Indonesia, Mitsuo Oda Arakawa, the firm's general manager Cokorda Bagus Sudarta and its senior manager Yusi Purba.
"We released them because, for now, they have answered all of our questions and were very cooperative. Should we need them again, we'll summon them. Besides, they are not directly linked to the factory which produces the seasoning in Mojokerto, East Java," Mulyono said. (edt/nur/ylt)