Inkud 'authorized' to import sugar
Zakki P. Hakim and Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Association of Village Cooperatives (Inkud), which has been under scrutiny for its alleged involvement in sugar smuggling, insisted on Tuesday that it had imported sugar after getting the go-ahead from Minister of Industry and Trade Rini MS Soewandi.
The ministry has insisted that it had given sugar import licenses only to state owned plantation firms PTPN IX, PTPN X, PTPN XI and state owned trading firms PT Rajawali Nusantara and PT Perdagangan Indonesia
However, in a hearing with House of Representatives Commission V for industry and trade on Tuesday evening, Inkud chairman Nurdin Halid said that in a meeting on Nov. 19, 2003, Rini said Inkud could import the commodity through PTPN X.
The Nov. 19 meeting was attended by Commission V member Achmadi Noer Supit and Director General of International Trade Sudar SA, according to Nurdin.
Following the meeting, Sudar suggested Inkud make a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with PTPN X to ensure that the state owned firm would only work with Inkud.
Soon after Inkud signed an MOU with PTPN X, Sudar issued the sugar import license to PTPN X, according to Nurdin.
The commission is scheduled to hold hearings with the police and Sudar on Wednesday (today) to further probe the sugar smuggling issue.
Meanwhile, National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung Sudjono said on Tuesday that according to ministerial decree No. 643, PTPN X's license to import sugar had expired on April 30.
"Any sugar that arrived after that date is illegal because the import transaction was no longer valid. The amount of sugar deemed illegal reaches 65,000 tons as of now because we have found more at another port," said Suyitno.
PTPN X was given a license to import up to 108,000 tons of sugar by April 30. Some 34,000 tons arrived before April 30, while 65,000 more arrived in early May.
Suyitno said that police had confiscated all of the illegal sugar.
He said police could possibly declare officials from Inkud and PTPN X as well as people from PT Phoenix as suspects because it seemed clear now that the three groups had imported the sugar illegally.
He said that suspects in the case could be charged under Articles 102 and 103 of Law No. 10/1995 on smuggling, which carries a maximum sentence of eight years in prison and a Rp 500 million (US$53,191) fine.
The police have questioned earlier director of PTPN X Duduh Sadarachnmat and general trading manager of Inkud Abdul Waris Halid as witnesses in the case. They are scheduled to question president director of PT Phoenix Radja Benarji soon. None of them have been declared suspects.
The case became headlines news nationwide when a sugarcane farmer's association discovered 56,000 tons of sugar in several warehouses at Tanjung Priok in Jakarta, Bekasi and Bogor.
Suyitno said that the sugar could not be returned to Thailand as demanded by PT Phoenix because the company itself previously asked that the sugar to be placed at the port warehouse.
He denied a claim by PT Phoenix that some 18,000 tons of the total amount of sugar had disappeared during the investigation process.
"They can claim that the sugar is lost, but we have found all the sugar in the warehouse. They themselves have to be responsible if some sugar were to disappear," said Suyitno.
Lawyer of Inkud Edison Betaubun claimed that all of the sugar was legal because it was shipped from Bangkok, Thailand before April 30.
"According to Article 10 of Ministerial Decree No. 643, the time of shipment was to be decided by another decree from Director General of International Trade. This latter decree stipulates that the shipment had to be done before April 30. PT Phoenix shipped the sugar before that date," said Edison.