Govt still investigating foreign dredgers

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam/Jakarta

Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Dahuri vowed to investigate thoroughly the seven dredgers that were arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle sand from Riau waters to Singapore.

He said his office together with the Navy, immigration office and National Police were still carrying out an investigation into the smuggling attempt, and vowed there would be no collusion in the handling of the case.

Rokhmin, who is also chairman of the Sand Mining Supervision Team, said the government had offered three alternatives to the vessels' owners for the resolution of the case.

He said these were a legal settlement through the courts, fines or the vessels' seizure. The government had opted for the first option.

"The government will set the seven vessels free should their owners be ready to pay the fines that will imposed by the court," he said, adding that the cases would be brought to the court shortly after the investigation had been completed.

The seven foreign vessels, all now docked in Tanjung Karimun seaport, were arrested by naval warships while allegedly dredging up sand illegally without any of the necessary documents in Riau waters last month.

Meanwhile, Batam Naval Base commander Col. Adyaman A.S. reiterated that the vessels were arrested as both they and their crew members had no permits or immigration documents. The crew members claimed they did not know who had chartered the vessels.

He said that the vessels' crew members had also failed to produce their passports or sailing licenses.

"The important thing is that the vessels were arrested for several violations," he said.

A.B. Purba, lawyer for PT Bintang Bahtera Selatan, which chartered the Vasco da Gama, Prof. Gorjunov and Samsung Apollo, said his client had sued the Navy for having held the three vessels for longer than the permitted period of time.

"The fate of the three ships' 36 crew members is now uncertain because of the expiry of the detention period," he said.

He questioned the reasons behind the three ships' arrest since both they and their crew members possessed the necessary documents.

"We will show to the court that the ships and their crew members had all the documents required to conduct sand mining," he said.

So far, the owners of the remaining four ships have declined to comment on their ships' arrest, saying they are trying to settle the case out of court.

The central government has revoked the authority of the Riau provincial administration to handle sand exports following the rampant smuggling of sand to Singapore.

The sand mining has sparked protests from local non- governmental organizations since it has damaged the environment and brought no benefits for local people.