Fate of illegal used cars not yet decided

R.K. Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Irian Jaya

The Irian Jaya provincial legislative council has asked governor J.P. Solossa to make a decision on the fate of 415 Japanese cars aboard the Panamanian flagged freighter Golden Coast, which has been under arrest in Jayapura port for the past two months.

Paulus Sumino, chairman of the provincial legislative council's Commission B on economic affairs, said the governor should immediately decide whether to bring the case to court or send the ship and its cargo back to Japan.

"The legislative council has no executive authority and can only make recommendations to the provincial administration as to what action it should take in handling this case," he said after a hearing with provincial officials here on Monday.

Dorteus Asmuruf, the provincial secretary, represented the governor during the hearing.

The local customs and excise office arrested the vessel on July 18, 2001 as its cargo contained not only 177 new cars as stipulated in the import documents but also 228 undeclared used cars. The local Police have named Budi Hardjo, the president of PT Siola Abon, the importer of the Japanese cars, as the main suspect in the case.

Hengky Swaky, a member of Commission B, said the provincial government could send the ship back with its cargo while prosecuting the importer for breaching official importation procedures.

"Given that this is the era of free trade, the provincial government could send the ship and its cargo back to maintain the country's good image on the international stage," he said.

He added that should the provincial government decide to reject the illegal used cars, it would not affect the two countries' ties because the Japanese government would take similar measures if the circumstances were reversed.

Dorteus said after the hearing that the provincial government would soon resolve the prolonged dispute.

"Tomorrow, will we hold a nuts-and-bolts meeting with officials from the relevant ministries to seek a fair solution to the case," he said.

Separately, Adc. Sr. Comr. Daud J. Sihombing, chief of the Jayapura Police, said the police would hand over the case file to prosecutors to be dealt with in accordance with the law.

"Budi Hardjo should be prosecuted because according to the police investigation, his company has violated Law No. 10/1995 on excise duties by trying to smuggle used cars into the country," he said.

Wiryawan Tamanbali, representing Nakane Corp., the Japanese exporter of the cars, said his company had handed over the case to the provincial government to solve.

"We hope the provincial authorities will allow Siola Abon to unload the new cars that have import licenses and impose the lightest possible sanctions on the company while the illegal used cars are shipped back to Japan," he said.

He added that his company was losing an estimated US$1,000 per day because the ship had been tied up over the last two months.