Nearly 1 ton of discarded wild boar meat discovered

Nearly 1 ton of discarded wild boar meat discovered

JAKARTA (JP): Nearly one ton of wild boar meat packed in 10
white gunny sacks was found in a dry sewer in Kemayoran, Central
Jakarta, on Sunday morning.

Kemayoran Police chief Maj. Sudjono said at the site that his
men were still probing the case, including the motive behind the
dumping of the boar meat.

But he suspected that the sacks were dumped at the site on Jl.
Benjamin Sueb in the early hours of the same day before being
spotted by a local resident, Sumarto, 40, who then reported the
case to local police officers.

"The culprit must have known that streets are busy on Saturday
nights. So, he or she must have waited till dawn, to dump the
gunny sacks into the sewer," officer Sudjono said.

The issue of wild boar meat has become a major story in the
capital following remarks made by city councilors, who said that
several meat traders in the city had sold wild boar meat as beef
at a slightly cheaper rate than the market price of real beef.

A few hours after the discovery at the Kemayoran site, dozens
of men, including Sumarto, were seen carrying the heavy sacks and
dumping them into the back of a City Husbandry Agency truck.

The sacks contained light pink intestines and other body
parts, which were so slippery that they kept spilling out of the
sacks when the sacks thrown into the truck.

One official of the City Husbandry Agency who requested
anonymity said at the dumping site that he was sure the meat was
wild boar meat.

"I have personally worked for nearly 10 years with meat and
definitely know the difference between beef and wild boar meat.
This is boar meat," the official said.

Officer Sudjono said that upon receiving the report of the
finding, he contacted City Husbandry Agency officials who rushed
to Kemayoran to study the type of meat.

"The officials are quite sure that it's wild boar meat,
considering the light pink coloring and the very tender texture
of the meat," Sudjono said.

Pink meat

Separately, Sumarto, the driver who found the meat, told The
Jakarta Post that he usually gets up at 6:30 a.m. and upon
heading for work, the first thing he sees outside his house is
the trash bags in the sewer, which are normally black in color.

"This (Sunday) morning, I saw white gunny sacks. So, I got
curious and checked what was inside. When I saw the meat in one
sack, I checked the other sacks. I saw more meat, all pink in
color," Sumarto said.

He then waited for a police patrol car to pass by, but none
did, so he took a sample of the meat and headed for the nearby
Rajawali police precinct to report the case.

City councilors have called on city authorities to take stern
action against vendors selling wild boar meat as cheap beef at
marketplaces in the capital.

Commission chairman Syarief Zulkarnaen said the City Husbandry
Agency should involve the police in its follow-up of the
findings.

But there have been no words from the city administration,
including the agency, about their investigation thus far.

Syarief said the matter had raised public concern, especially
for Muslims who are forbidden to consume wild game.

Local beef is sold at Rp 27,000 (US$3) per kilogram, while
imported beef costs Rp 20,000 in the marketplace.

A councilor said he had received information that wild boar
meat was being sold at Pasar Minggu market and Pasar Senen market
at Rp 15,000 per kilogram.

Late last month, the agency nabbed several vendors selling the
cheap meat on Jl. Kelingkit in Tebet, South Jakarta, and seized
740 kilograms of wild boar meat from the traders.

Head of the City Husbandry Agency, Edi Setiarto, warned the
public about the wild boar meat, which is believed to have
bypassed the inspection authorities.

The news which has already reached millions of households in
the city apparently caused a significant drop in sales of beef
traders here.

Interviewed separately by the Post on Sunday, sellers in Pasar
Minggu, Palmerah and Senen markets said their sales volume on
average had plunged to between 30 percent and 50 percent.

"The shoppers are in doubt about the beef we offer to them.
Many of them have already stopped buying beef," said trader
Hanafi at Pasar Minggu market in South Jakarta.

Armin, a beef seller at Palmerah market in West Jakarta said
he used to collect Rp 1 million in daily revenue on average.

"But, after local dailies reported the matter, I only got some
Rp 500,000 to Rp 700,000 average per day," he said.

Sukron, a seller at Pasar Senen market said he was previously
able to sell 150 kilograms beef a day.

"Now, we can only sell 100 kilograms of beef a day," he said.

The beef sellers convinced shoppers that they would never sell
wild boar meat.

"We are Muslims, and our religion prohibits us to eat, touch
and even sell the wild boar meat," Sukron explained.

The sellers said the media should be held responsible for
blowing up the story.

"We are considering airing protests to the media since they
wrote that (story) as if we also sold the meat as beef," said
Sukron, who is also a student at Jakarta University here.

But Hanafi confirmed that some of their fellow traders might
have sold the wild boar meat as beef.

"It's a way to get quick profits since the price of wild boar
meat is only Rp 15,000 per kilogram," he said. (ylt/asa)