PT Arbamass denies misuse of official letter
PT Arbamass denies misuse of official letter
JAKARTA (JP): PT Arbamass Multi Invesco, which advocates controlling Indonesia's liquor trade and distribution through mandatory labeling, insists it has the legal right to carry out the move although a Ministry of Home Affairs official says otherwise.
"We never represented the 1994 letter signed by Warsito Rasman, then director general of regional autonomy of the Ministry of Home Affairs, as a license to carry out our plan," Abbas, an executive of Arbamass told The Jakarta Post by phone last night.
Abbas was reacting to yesterday's news report which quoted Sumitro, the current director general of regional autonomy, as saying that no firms are allowed to use the 1994 letter as a "pretext to make money from controlling the trade of liquor".
A copy of the 1994 letter shows that the document is a circular addressed to provincial governors reminding them to control liquor distribution in their respective areas.
The letter, which does not mention Arbamass at all, was issued two months before the company was incorporated.
Abbas' statement yesterday contradicted the announcement by Arbamass's top executives in a press conference last month.
During that meeting, the executives said that the 1994 letter empowered the company to control liquor distribution throughout mainly Moslem Indonesia by compulsory labeling.
Misquoted
"We have the legal permits from the provinces' governors. We were misquoted," Abbas clarified yesterday.
Up to now, Arbamass has not sent a letter complaining of being misquoted to the media which covered last month's meeting.
The widely-diversified Arbamass is controlled by businessmen Ari Sigit Soeharto and Emir Baramuli.
Emir said during last month's press meeting that he wanted all liquor producers and distributors to purchase Arbmass' stickers prior to their liquor sales.
All liquor without such labels will be made illegal, he said.
That move would protect the country's youths and raise the revenues of regional administrations, he said.
Opposed
Abbas said yesterday that executives of his firm will soon meet Sumitro so that the official can "correct his perception on the matter".
The labeling move has been strongly opposed by liquor producers, including brewers who are publicly listed and partially foreign owned.
The producers, fearing that sales will be hurt, if Arbamass has its way, called the move "illegal and monopolistic".
They also said the prices of Arbamass' stickers are far higher than all existing regional levies. Moreover, they said they cannot accept a private firm controlling the industry, which is already heavily taxed and tightly regulated.
The producers also claimed, as recently as the first week of this month, that they were never consulted by Arbamass, or the government agencies normally overseeing this industry, about the labeling move.
The producers' claim was denied by another staff member of Arbamass last night.
"We have been negotiating with the producers since December," he said, while requesting anonymity.
He also said that Arbamass does not aim to profit from the sales of the stickers.
The firm will only make money from the "operational fees" for controlling the distribution of liquor, he said.
Arbamass, although inexperienced in beverage distribution, has been awarded a license to distribute liquor by the health ministry.
When asked what if the labeling move creates a negative image of Indonesia's legal certainty in the eyes of foreign investors, the Arbamass staff member replied: "They can say whatever they want. We only care for the country's younger generation." (hdj)