Navy releases two foreign dredgers

Navy releases two foreign dredgers

Fadi and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Batam/Jakarta

The Navy has released two of the seven foreign-registered
dredgers detained for illegal sand dredging in the waters off
Tangjungbalai Karimum, Riau, after the vessels' owners paid a
total of US$650,000, or more than Rp 6 billion, in fines to the
government.

The commander of the naval base in Tanjungbalai Karimun, Maj.
Purwanto, confirmed on Wednesday that the two dredgers, the TB
Olivia and the TB Jasmine V, which had been chartered by PT Pola
Kendali Karimun, were released on Monday after the fines, which
were set at 15 percent of the dredgers' value, were paid.

The two dredgers, along with five others, the Prof Gurjunof,
Samsung Apollo, Vasco da Gama, Lange Wafer and the Alexander von
Humbold have been detained since July 25, 2002, after they were
arrested while carrying thousands of tons of sand without the
necessary documents from Riau waters to the island state of
Singapore.

The arrests were in line with the government's stated
intention of curbing illegal sand dredging, which has been
inflicting losses on the state of up to Rp 2.3 trillion (US$258
million) every year.

"The two vessels were released at the order of the Sand Mining
Control and Monitoring Team in Jakarta," Purwanto told The
Jakarta Post by telephone.

Tanjung Balai Karimun Regent Muhammad Sani regretted the
fines, saying that the government should have complied with the
district court's order that the owners of the seven dredgers pay
Rp 30 million each in fines.

"The team's decision to impose fines amounting to 15 percent
of the dredgers' value flies in the face of the court verdict and
gives rise to legal uncertainty," he argued.

Meanwhile, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Rokhmin
Dahuri said in Jakarta that the government would not back down
following its decision to impose the 15 percent fines on all of
the dredgers.

"The dredgers will continue to be detained until their owners
pay the fines. The vessels will be confiscated by the state if
they fail to do so," he said after briefing President Megawati
Soekarnoputri on the case.

Rokhmin, who also chairs the sand mining monitoring team, said
that the two Japanese companies operating the released dredgers
had already paid their fines.

Jakarta has expressed concern to the Singapore government over
illegal sand exports, which support reclamation projects in the
city state.

However, the Singapore government is reluctant to deal
directly with Jakarta over issue as the sand is supplied by an
international syndicate.

Local activists in Riau have repeatedly demanded that the
dredger owners face criminal charges.

Rokhmin said that the South Korean and Dutch companies
involved were still trying to negotiate the fines with the
government.

"However, we are insisting that the fines should be as much as
the court decided and we expect them to comply with the
decision," he added.