No lessons learned from booze busting raids

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.