Explosives easy to obtain: Companies

Explosives easy to obtain: Companies

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Looking for a bomb? With the lack of control exercised by the
government over the import and use of explosives, it might not be
difficult to obtain this dangerous good.

Experts on explosives said that so far the country had no
standard procedure or system for the audit and control of
manufactured explosives, imported and distributed by the existing
licensed companies.

"Our inventory of explosives has never been audited by the
government," Timbul Sitompul, spokesman for state-owned military
explosive company PT Pindad, told The Jakarta Post.

Timbul added that manufacturers of explosives were not
responsible for the bomb's misuse after it was purchased by a
customer. Control should be carried out by the National Police
and the Ministry of Defense, he said.

Pindad specializes in providing military explosives for the
military. The company, based in Bandung, West Java, manufactures
and stores its explosives in Malang, East Java.

The company came under fire when an explosive bearing its name
was found at the blast site of the Attorney General's Office in
Jakarta in July 2000.

The lack of control over explosives has also been acknowledged
by an executive at another state-owned explosive company, PT
Dahana, which is allowed to sell explosives to the public.

Dahana, which was established in 1966, once had its inventory
audited by a government team in November 2001, but Harry
Sampurna, the finance and business development director for the
company, said the audit was "unclear" and the results had so far
not been unveiled.

"Aside from the audit system, I am concerned about private
firms that have been licensed to engage in the explosives
business. Some say that the companies don't even have an office,
just a telephone and fax machine," said Harry.

An expert on explosives, who asked for anonymity, said that
one of these licensed private companies offers to obtain a
license to import and distribute explosives for any interested
parties.

The expert refused to name the company in question.

The expert further said that given the absence of control by
the government, a buyer could ask these suppliers, which do not
have an address, to import or even smuggle explosives into the
country.

The expert said that until 2001, all imported explosives could
be brought into the country without clearing customs since
explosives were considered, at that time, a strategic good that
was duty free.

The expert said he believed that a lot of explosives and
firearms were smuggled into the country by and with the help of
licensed private explosives companies until 2001.

The government has granted business licenses to nine firms.

Until 1999, there were only five companies licensed to conduct
business in explosives: Pindad and Dahana, PT Multi Nitrotama
Kimia, PT Tridaya Esta and PT Armindo Prima.

Industry sources said that Multi Nitrotama was partly owned by
Hutomo "Tommy" Mandalaputra, the youngest son of former president
Soeharto, who is serving time in jail for murder. Multi Nitrotama
and Dahana are the only companies in the country which own a
license to produce ammonium nitrate-based explosives.

Industry sources said Tridaya Esta was owned by, among others,
Soeharto's second son Bambang Trihatmodjo.

After 1999, the government granted licenses to another four
companies, PT Nitro Selulosa, PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur, PT
Trivita and PT Asah Karya.