No lessons learned from booze busting raids

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Nov. 7 was not a good day for Muniroh. Police raided her kiosk in front of the Taman Ismail Marzuki art center on Jl. Cikini Raya in Central Jakarta, and confiscated 80 bottles of alcoholic drinks that she claimed were worth Rp 1 million (US$111).

The raid by the police was the first for Muniroh of Tegal, Central Java, who has operated her business there since 1981, aside from a raid by the recently disbanded Islam Defenders Front (FPI) two years ago who destroyed a crate of beer.

"The police asked me to show them my license to sell liquor. I don't have one. I didn't know that I had to have a license ... now I've lost Rp 1 million," she told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

She still sells beer at her kiosk which is frequented by students, art center visitors, and guests of the hotel across the road. But she has decided to stay away from liquor, at least until the police lessen their raids, which are conducted intensively during Ramadhan.

Not realizing that she might have done something wrong, she even thought that the raid was conducted following a tip off from competitors because the police went straight to search the boxes full of liquor which were kept under the bench behind the kiosk.

The owner of the kiosk nearby, Mu'in, was lucky. He closed his kiosk when all the kiosks along Jl. Cikini Raya were raided. He opened again only last Saturday. But this time he took some precautions.

"If you want some, I keep five bottles inside. No more than that. I could lose a fortune if there is a raid," he told the Post, claiming that the liquor would be sold out before the day ends.

The raids on vendors of alcoholic drinks have intensified during the fasting month, which this year started on Nov. 6, as part of a 2001 gubernatorial decree on maintaining public order and security during the Islamic holy month.

With the legal umbrella of Presidential Decree No. 3/1997 controlling the distribution of alcoholic drinks as a justification for police action, the raids are targeting unlicensed kiosks and shops selling liquor.

Besides the 1997 decree, the police also invoke a 1926 law on public order and a 1982 law on regulations to register a business, a violation of which carries a maximum three months imprisonment or a maximum of fine of Rp 3 million.

The decree aims to enforce liquor licenses and its implementation is tightly monitoring by the local administration and the police force, but none of its clauses stipulates a minimum age for consumers.

However, Central Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Edmon Ilyas claimed that the police also monitor consumers and will apprehend those who sell liquor to minors.

The licenses required for the sale of alcohol include one to establish a company, the license to sell beer and other alcoholic beverages, the registration of taxed goods, an approval from the governor in compliance with the 1926 law, and a recommendation letter from the police.

Apparently the police raids have not enlightened the vendors, as Muniroh and Mu'in, for example, still don't know why the business is categorized as illegal and how to legalize it.

Muniroh is not even aware that she should not sell liquor to minors.

"I don't give a darn. Why should I be concerned about who is going to drink it as long as they pay. Older people generally buy beer. Young people usually buy Mansion House or vodka and I often see children sharing drinks," she said.

Central Jakarta Police chief of detectives, First Insp. Irwan, admitted that the light penalty for unlicensed vendors was not a strong enough deterrent.

In the last eight months, the police have seized more than 46,600 bottles of liquor. The bottles were destroyed last week along with 136,933 confiscated firecrackers.

He told the Post on Monday that the liquor was of category B, with an alcohol content of between 5 percent to 20 percent and category C with an alcohol content of between 20 percent and 55 percent or more.

Those selling alcoholic drinks in category A, that is with between 1 percent and 5 percent alcohol content like beer, are exempted from the raids as the presidential decree focuses on the control of the distribution of category B and C alcoholic drinks, he said.

Most of the raided kiosks and shops, he said, were located in slums in Tanah Abang, Johar Baru and Cempaka Putih.