Smuggling in Sabang involves officials
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Sabang Island Aceh
Amiruddin sits idly on a bench, casting his sight at the open sea in front of Sabang harbor. There was not a single ship docking at the harbor that day.
On a busy day he earns Rp 7,300 (70 U.S. cents) for every 1,000 kilograms of goods he carries on his back and so in total earns an average of Rp 47,500.
"Even if there is a ship but it is not unloading its cargo, there is no work," said the well-built manual laborer at this port located on the northern tip of Aceh province.
Sabang was declared a free port in January 2000 by former president Abdurrahman Wahid, partly to allay the Acehnese demand for independence.
As a Sabang native, the new status of the port has not brought any change to his life, he said.
"The price of sugar here, for example, is the same as in Banda Aceh," he said referring to the capital of Aceh several hundred kilometers from Sabang.
"Why is it so?" he asked, "shouldn't it be cheaper here since the commodity is unloaded here in bulk?"
In a more serious tone, he asked why those people should bring in numerous luxury cars instead of soap, spoons, glasses and other daily necessities?
"The shipment of luxury cars only benefits government officials," Amiruddin said.
Sabang free port on the 154-square-kilometer island was closed in 1985 after the widespread smuggling of electronic goods out of the island to other regions in Indonesia.
Now barely two years after it gained its former status, second-hand luxury cars have taken the place of electronic goods.
The cars range from BMWs to Pajeros and with Rp 50 million one can get a 1994 BMW 3181 or a Pajero. With Rp 70 million one gets a BMW 3189 made in 1995 or 1996.
All these secondhand cars look brand new and ready to hit the road. To get the Nanggroe Aceh (NA) police license one only needs to add Rp 20 million.
All transactions take place between car traders-cum-smugglers and the car importers.
Joy, not his real name, said he owed his "profession" as a car trader to his uncle who is an army colonel.
He claimed that he had never encountered any trouble in his "trade" and he had smuggled cars out of the free port regularly upon his uncle's instructions.
"This time I was asked to buy several BMWs," said the young man who is also a university student during the day, "they cost Rp 52 million each".
The cars are then sold in Banda Aceh and they can fetch a price of Rp 150 million each, he said.
"Outside Banda Aceh, they can fetch a higher price, up to Rp 350 million each."
But to bring them out of Banda Aceh needs stronger backing, he said, say a higher rank of military official or police officer.
Head of Aceh Besar Police, Adj. Sr. Com. Alfons said the police were prepared to prevent smuggling and would never allow its members to smuggle cars out of Sabang.
"We will mete out harsh punishment if they are found out," he told The Jakarta Post.
There has not been a single smuggling case in the last few months, he said.
Another car trader, M. Hadi said he was once asked by a high ranking police officer to take an Audi Metic out of Sabang using a fake police license.
"When I was stopped at the North Sumatra border, I only showed a letter of recommendation from the police officer, and was allowed to continue my trip," he said.
Hadi said he was paid Rp 1.5 million for his service.
What do people like Amiruddin get from the free port?
"Secondhand clothes, for sure," Amiruddin said with a smile, "people like us can only buy such clothes at a good price".
He is not entirely wrong. Since the free port was opened, imported secondhand clothes have become ubiquitous in the port city, mostly sold by side-street vendors.