Operation Cleansing will rate liquor factories

Operation Cleansing will rate liquor factories

JAKARTA (JP): The ongoing military-sponsored Operation
Cleansing anti-crime drive, which has been confiscating liquor
from dealers and retailers, will begin raiding liquor producers.

Brig. Gen. Wiranto, chief of staff of the City Military
Command, told the press on Saturday that his office had discussed
the move with related agencies.

The concerned institutions include the Ministry of Health, the
Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Trade.

"We urged them to review regulations concerning the production
of liquor in a bid to eliminate the criminal problem to its
core," Wiranto said.

Operation Cleansing started on April 11 under the sponsorship
of the Jakarta Bakorstanasda (the city chapter of the Agency for
the Coordination of Support for the Development of National
Stability).

The Jakarta military command is an ex-officio leading agency
of the Bakorstanasda.

The operation personnel are recruited from the Army, Navy, Air
Force and Police Force, as well as the Jakarta, Bekasi and
Tangerang administration officials.

Based on the belief that liquor contributes towards crime, the
operation is trying to decrease the inclination towards alcohol
among the public, by confiscating the drinks from shops which do
not have the proper licenses.

The team has captured drunkards and reprimanded them while in
custody.

Wiranto speculated that some liquor factories are breaking the
provisions in their licenses.

"Probably, a number of factories have produced kinds of drinks
not allowed under their licenses," Wiranto said.

He stated the targeted factories include those known to be
overproducing, those producing banned liquor and illegal home-
industry factories.

The decision to extend the operation's target to liquor
producers was apparently made in response to comments by analysts
that the seizure of spirits from traders and distributors by the
operation squads will not be effective as long as production goes
uncontrolled.

So far, around half a million bottles of liquor have been
seized.

Local liquor producers have already felt the impact of the
raids on their customers.

The factories, including PT Suba Indah in Cimanggis, Bogor,
and PT Perindustrian Bapak Jenggot in Tangerang, said the
operation might lead to the layoff of hundreds of workers.

In response to criticism of the drive, Wiranto also denied
allegations that the ongoing operation is only temporary in
nature and mainly launched to anticipate the coming Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit slated for November in Bogor.

"No, it's not because of APEC. This operation is our reaction
to something which we think already distresses society," Wiranto
said, adding the operation would go on after the APEC summit.

Earlier, Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Hendropriyono
said that in anticipation of the coming APEC meeting he had
enlarged the operation's strength from the initial number of
16,700 to around 48,000 personnel.

Although the APEC summit is scheduled to be held in Bogor,
heads of government from APEC members will stay in hotels in
Jakarta.

Wiranto said Jakarta's Bakorstanasda and the West Java branch
had discussed an integrated security system along the roads
linking Jakarta and Bogor, along which the APEC Summit
participants will pass. (11)