Farmers protest imported sugar

MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi: Dozens of sugarcane farmers in South Sulawesi flocked to the provincial legislative council on Friday to protest the influx of allegedly smuggled sugar into the province.

The protesters, from the People's Sugarcane Farmers Association, said the circulation of the foreign product on the market had caused the price of domestic sugar to fall during the harvest season.

They urged to the government and the council to ban or to limit the entry of foreign sugar into the province.

On Thursday, police raided a warehouse in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar and found 2,000 tons of sugar allegedly smuggled from Thailand.

The sugar was shipped from Medan, North Sumatra, without the necessary documentation from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and state-owned plantation company PT Perkebunan Nusantara.

Rahman Halid from the province's Sugar Distributors Association said foreign sugar was sold for less than Rp 3,600 per kilogram, while the retail price of domestic sugar stood at Rp 4,200 per kilogram. -- JP