Just ended 1994 not a good year for consumers
Just ended 1994 not a good year for consumers
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Consumers' Protection Foundation (YLKI) lashed out at the government for making no significant efforts toward the empowerment of consumers during 1994.
"Indonesian consumers have not yet been given their full rights," Zumrotin KS, director of the agency, said in its year- end statement.
In many cases, instead of protecting the consumers' rights, the government backed up the business people's interests, she complained.
"Economic policies can be purchased by a handful of business people," Zumrotin said, underlining the need to establish laws to better protect consumers.
She noted that not only the government, but the business people as well, neglected the consumers' rights. As a result, many of them did not feel committed to providing quality merchandise for buyers, Zumrotin said.
The agency listed a number of cases in 1994 which reflected the lack of protection of consumers' rights, ranging from food poisoning to rocketing cement prices.
Five people died and 37 others were hospitalized in Palembang, due to what was believed to have been poisoning after consuming defective instant noodles. Instead of protecting the public, the government sided with the company producing the instant noodles, the foundation charged.
Violations involving the use of certain chemical substances in foods and beverages prevailed, the foundation reported. The agency also received a lot of complaints about expired food products found on market shelves. The presence of heavy metals and pesticides in vegetables and fruits was further evidence of a lack of consumer protection, the foundation said.
Earlier in 1994, an overloaded Metro Mini city bus plunged into the Sunter river in the city, killing 33 passengers. The case did not only show how poor the transportation service was, but also spotlighted a lack of respect for consumers. Bus companies do not realize that consumers have the right to good service, Zumrotin said. "Neither the transportation companies nor the government gave any attention to the right of the consumer to compensation for the recklessness of those managing public transit services," she said.
The government was also criticized for depriving the consumers' of their rights by imposing fines for airline companies which provide big discounts.
The foundation also pointed out that consumers had to suffer due to the rising price of cement and the rise in electricity rates.
"The rise in cement prices, which was out of the government's control, confirmed the domination of business people intent on reaping a huge profit by oppressing the consumers," Zumrotin said.
Another example of how powerless consumers can be is seen in the purchasing agreements between housing developers and consumers. The documents stipulate the buyers' obligations, but not the developers' accountability -- for instance if the construction of the house is not finished on time. The foundation observed that even though the minister of housing had issued a decree on the matter, a careful examination of the regulation showed that it favored the developers. (sim)