Fish auction needs security officers

Fish auction needs security officers

JAKARTA (JP): Members of city council have called for the continued presence of representatives from the Jakarta office of the National Security Coordinating Agency at the Muara Baru fish auction center in North Jakarta.

L.H. Sinaga, vice chairman of the council's Commission C, which is in charge of financial affairs, told reporters on Monday that the agency's presence is expected to help control operation brokers, who frequently extort money from fishermen, and to uphold security at the auction complex.

Sinaga, and a number of other councillors, visited the auction center on Monday, to have a close look at the collection of fees at the auction center.

M. Mikron, head of the Muara Baru fish auction, admitted that the quantity of fees collected at the auction has increased steadily after the agency stationed a number of its officers there from January, 1993.

"After the agency's officers took stern action against the brokers at the fish auction center, the fees collected increased sharply from Rp 5 million (US$2,272) per month, before 1993, to Rp 200 million per month," he said.

Out of the total collection of fish auction fees, amounting to about Rp 2.65 billion last year, Rp 2.37 billion came from Muara Baru, he said.

This year the collection of fish auction fees throughout the city is projected to reach Rp 2.97 billion, he said.

Mikron said that about 100 to 150 tons of fish are auctioned in Muara Baru every day.

"About 30 percent of the total amount is exported, mostly to Japan, with the remainder being consumed domestically," he said. (31)