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.