Government to destroy 16 containers of smuggled sugar

Government to destroy 16 containers of smuggled sugar

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the National Police have
agreed to destroy 16 of 179 containers of smuggled sugar
confiscated by the customs office in Jakarta last month.

The sugar was smuggled in from Port Klang in Malaysia to
Belawan Port in Medan, North Sumatra, before being shipped to
Tanjung Priok, Jakarta.

Minister of Industry and Trade Rini Soewandi disclosed on
Monday that the police had agreed to destroy the contents of 16
containers -- around 352 tons of sugar -- which lacked ownership
details.

"We remain firm that all illegal sugar has to be destroyed.
According to the police investigation, some of the confiscated
sugar is owned, but nobody has claimed it yet, while some has no
ownership details. The police have confirmed that any unclaimed
sugar will be destroyed soon," said Rini.

She added that already two businessmen from North Sumatra had
admitted some of the sugar was theirs and the police had been
investigating this.

Rini said that documentation for the 179 containers stated
that the commodity should not be moved from North Sumatra to
other provinces.

The minister has reportedly insisted on destroying the 179
containers of sugar, confiscated at the end of March, so as not
to put the price of local sugar under further pressure due to
oversupply.

According to Ministerial Decree No. 6/2004, the shipment of
commodities within the country is not forbidden. But as sugar is
among those commodities covered by specific regulations on
importation, its shipment must follow certain procedures.

Meanwhile, National Police spokesman, Brig. Gen. Soenarko
could not confirm whether they would destroy the sugar soon, but
said that the police had identified several men allegedly behind
the smuggling.

"We are still trying to locate several others. It is possible
that we might destroy some of the sugar soon, but will wait until
we nab all of the smugglers before destroying the remainder of
it," Soenarko told The Jakarta Post.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade issued a ruling limiting
the importation of sugar last September. Only manufacturing firms
that take 75 percent of their raw material from local farmers are
allowed to import raw, refined or white sugar. The move is
expected to help bolster the price of sugar in the local market.

The firms allowed to import sugar include state plantations PT
Perkebunan Nusantara IX, X, XI and RNI. They are tasked to fill
the huge gap between domestic supply and demand.

Indonesia produced only 1.8 million tons of sugar in 2002,
while demand reached 3.2 million tons.

The government, however, has failed to stop the rampant
smuggling of cheaper sugar from overseas into the country, which
has flooded the local market and hurt sugarcane farmers.

Apart from the current case, it has been reported that around
24,000 tons annually of illegal sugar enters the country via West
Kalimantan. In December last year, 1,600 tons of sugar were
smuggled to East Java while around 900 tons were discovered in
Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, this month.