Report on gambling in ships puzzle police

Report on gambling in ships puzzle police

JAKARTA (JP): The recent public outcry against alleged
gambling on board a vessel berthed at Tanjung Priok port, North
Jakarta, has police scratching their heads.

City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Dibyo Widodo told reporters here
yesterday he had received no reports about gambling on any ship
at the harbor.

"I will have to check with the chief of the port to see if he
has heard anything," Dibyo said after hosting a lunch gathering
for 300 orphans at his office.

The chairman of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI), Hasan
Basri, was quoted by Media Indonesia as saying yesterday that
gambling was going on in Indonesian waters. He was referring to
the alleged gambling reportedly involving hundreds of well-off
Jakartans on a ship called the Nautican.

"The operator of the ship has no sense of nationality," Hasan
Basri was quoted by the daily.

The gambling has allegedly been going on for several years on
the ship which leaves Tanjung Priok port every Tuesday and
Thursday.

Contacted by The Jakarta Post, the Tanjung Priok port police
chief, Lt. Col. Timbul Sianturi said, "That's an old rumor. I
really do not know for sure about any gambling."

Timbul said that the port police found it hard to prove that
anything illegal was going on aboard the ship. Even if his office
could prove wrongdoing, it would be almost impossible to arrest
the gamblers, or the vessel's owners, because the ship is usually
anchored outside the area under the jurisdiction of the port
police, he added.

"How could we possibly collect any of the evidence necessary
to bring them to court?" he asked.

Media reports said yesterday that hundreds of people had lined
up at Tanjung Priok port on Thursday evening to board the
Nautican, which reportedly belongs to an Indonesian of Chinese
descent.

Passengers reportedly leave their cars at the port's passenger
terminal at a parking rate of Rp 20,000 per night.

The local media has reported that the Nautican provides a wide
range of gambling activities.

These activities include roulette, jackpot, black jack and
several Chinese games of chance.

All forms of gambling are illegal under Indonesian law.

Media reports also said that concern over a massive operation
against gambling places in the capital has motivated a larger
number of people to frequent the ship.

One report quoted a passengers as saying, "It is only on board
the vessel we can gamble safely." Another report said that a
passenger of the ship reported seeing a number of officers on
board.

Among the rules reportedly imposed on people boarding the
ship, which has a capacity of 800 passengers, is the stipulation
that they must have at least 50,000 Singapore dollars with them.

The gamblers' ID cards are kept at the security counter and
returned to them when leaving the gambling arena.

The gambling is believed to take place on board the ship when
it is in Seribu Islands waters, an area well outside the
jurisdiction of the Tanjung Priok port police. (bsr)