Fate of illegal used cars not yet decided

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.