TNI/police accused in palm oil scam

JAKARTA (JP): A member of the House of Representatives (DPR) accused members of the police or military in North Sumatra of taking part in the scam to contaminate Europe-bound crude palm oil (CPO) with diesel oil.

Ade Komaruddin of the Golkar faction said it was this allegation which had prompted the House to launch an independent inquiry into the scandal, which has tainted Indonesia's reputation as one of the world's major CPO exporters.

"It's already public knowledge who is responsible. Yet, no one dares to do anything," Ade said, adding that the public even knows the names of the officers involved.

The House's Commission V, which deals with industry and trade, deplored the government on Tuesday for failing to act promptly when the scam was first discovered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in October. The commission has decided to set up a fact finding team which will travel to North Sumatra.

Ade said the team would work for a month and file its recommendations to the government, adding that the inquiry was expected to win back the confidence of European buyers.

Currently, some 85,000 tons of diesel oil-contaminated CPO are being held at Rotterdam's port. Early investigations found that the tainted CPO originated from 20 of 68 storage tanks owned by state company PT Deli Tama Indonesia (DTI).

However, it remains unclear whether the contamination occurred at DTI's site or along the road from the CPO plantations to Belawan port in North Sumatra.

DTI said CPO en route to Belawan was vulnerable to thieves who mix it with diesel oil in order to avoid leaving a trace of the crime.

Indonesian CPO traders complained that orders from Europe have come to a virtual halt in spite of assurances from the Dutch Product Board for Margarine, Fats and Oils that the contamination level posed a negligible risk to public health.

The government meanwhile said it supported DPR's plan to send a team to North Sumatra.

Directorate General of Foreign Trade Djoko Mulyono said the team must find the responsible parties because that was what European officials had demanded.

Djoko suggested the team be comprised of officials from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, members of the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (Gapki) as well as from the police.

However Djoko cautioned the inquiry must not interfere with the ongoing police investigation. (03)