Govt will set up new health body

Govt will set up new health body

JAKARTA (JP): The government plans to establish a new agency to deal with increasing public complaints concerning drug and food qualities, a senior official of the Ministry of Health announced yesterday.

The new agency is designed chiefly to protect consumers, Director General for Food and Drug Supervision Wisnu Katim said, adding that the agency will be willing to work together with consumer agencies.

The agency, which is being considered in the fiscal 1995/96, will have a representative office in each of the 27 provinces.

Besides dealing with complaints, the agency will also act as an information center on drugs and food products, Wisnu told a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission VIII.

The directorate general supervises the quality, manufacturing and distribution of all drugs and food and beverages in the country.

The office has come under criticism in the past for its lax control. Consumer agencies repeatedly found and reported products on supermarket shelves that were past the expiry date and food containing harmful substances.

Wisnu said that besides conducting laboratory tests, his office also makes on the spot inspections on the quality of food and drugs sold to the public.

Last year, the directorate general found no less than 90,000 cans of food and beverages in supermarkets and with distributors in Jakarta that were deemed hazardous to consumers' health.

The manufacturers and distributors have been reprimanded and some were prosecuted, he said.

Asked about the position of the directorate general in the current controversy over the plan to control the sales of alcoholic drinks, Wisnu said his office is not involved in the proposed scheme.

A private company, PT Arbamass, was recently licensed by the Ministry of Home Affairs to control the sales of alcoholic beverages. Under the plan, all such drinks must carry stickers issued by the company before being sold to the public.

The country's beer manufacturers are objecting to the hefty fee they have to pay for the stickers and have threatened to relocate their plants outside Indonesia if the plan is enforced. (29)