Villagers vent rage over scam in rice sales

Villagers vent rage over scam in rice sales

TANGERANG (JP): Hundreds of residents of Kedung Dalam village
in Mauk district ran amok yesterday after they learned their
village chief had sold 3.5 metric tons of government-subsidized
rice to a middleman.

The angry residents, most of whom had not eaten any rice in
the past two days, smashed chairs and flowerpots at the chief's
house and stoned his office and vandalized its furniture,
shutters and windows.

Nobody was injured or arrested.

During a meeting between residents and local officials,
village chief Sapiudin claimed he had to first sell the rice to a
local trader on Wednesday as the supplier, the State Logistics
Agency, demanded cash at the time.

He said he planned to purchase the rice back as soon as
possible in order to distribute the staple food, whose price has
been rocketing in the past few days, to the people.

When Sapiudin's statement was repeated to trader Rohadi, the
latter admitted the transaction but denied the chief ever planned
to buy the rice back from him.

"I bought the rice for Rp 1,200 (11 U.S. cents) per kilogram
from Sapiudin and I planned to sell it at Rp 1,800 a kilogram,"
middleman Rohadi said.

The rice delivered by the logistics agency on Wednesday was
part of the government's program to help needy residents cope
with the soaring price of the commodity.

It should have been sold to the residents at Rp 1,200 per
kilogram, which is less than half of the market price.

The residents easily discovered the chief's alleged wrongdoing
because the middleman lived in the same neighborhood.

They initially went to the village chief's residence.

"As we got no satisfactory explanation from the chief, some of
us overturned the chairs and some flowerpots at Sapiudin's
house," said Sanwani, a resident who participated in the protest.

They then marched to the village office which they stoned
before destroying several items inside.

Hundreds of elementary school students whose school is located
next to the village office ran out of their classes to see what
the disturbance was all about.

Some of the students even joined the residents in damaging the
office.

The situation threatened to get out of control when some
people encouraged others to set the office on fire.

"Burn, burn, burn the office," shouted one voice from the
crowd.

But others managed to prevent the residents from burning the
office, saying that it would also gut the school.

Dozens of police and soldiers then arrived at the scene. They
ordered the residents to stop their protest.

The residents left the scene after the officers repeatedly
asked them to do so.

Residents of nearby Sasak and Jati Waringin villages also
reported that rice which should have been sold to them for Rp
1,200 kilogram did not reach them.

"Much of the rice was bought by the local officials
themselves. Some was sold to stalls for Rp 1,200 a kilogram. The
stalls then sold the rice to us for Rp 1,800 a kilogram," Dedeh,
a resident of Sasak village, said. (41/jun)