Bangka administration says difficult to fight rampant tin smuggling
Tuesday, February 15 2000 - 04:00 AM WIB
Bangka Island Regent Eko Maulana admitted that the smuggling of tin, a state asset, out of the island had been rampant. But he said that the administration couldn't fight the smugglers because of limited number of security personnel.
Bangka is the home-base of state tin mining firm PT Tambang Timah.
The paper said that the value of tin smuggled out of the Island to Singapore and Malaysia could reach Rp 16 billion per month.
Most of the illegal transaction is conducted in the night.(*)