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)