To Minister Boediono

Dear Mr. Boediono, please read the news stories about the smuggling of various goods, ranging from second-hand bicycles to used helicopters, published in the mass media over the past two weeks (Feb. 14 to Feb. 26).

In short, there is nothing that cannot be imported into our country. Second-hand garments from abroad, which are trash in their countries of origin, have glutted the country's garment markets in recent years.

Mr. Minister, it is not unlikely that our country is now a dustbin for other states' waste, especially because developed countries like the U.S., Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, etc. are facing a major problem in disposing of their waste.

When you were one of Bank Indonesia's directors, the Habibie administration opened the country's markets to all foreign products in an effort to win over the IMF. Some food and agricultural products, which were once subject to import duties or were banned from entering the country, have been allowed to enter the country. As a result, foreign products are flooding our markets today.

Unfortunately, although our government has allowed great freedom to import goods, certain foreign producers, our own importers and even our customs and excise officers themselves have abused the facility. Consequently, many foreign items have entered the country by means of three illegal methods, namely: smuggling, underinvoicing and dumping.

Mr. Boediono, these three methods have begun to crush our local industries. Take, for example, the manufacturers of children toys. They are now out of business. Then the textile, garment, footwear and sugar industries also collapsed. In the case of the last mentioned, the sugarcane farmers have been hardest hit. It is very likely that unless steps are taken to eradicate the three methods referred to above, all our industries will collapse. Should this happen, the country's economy will suffer from zero or even minus growth, in which case millions of Indonesians will become jobless.

DJOKO KRISTANTO

Jakarta