Navy, Police deny involvement in fuel smuggling
Wednesday, September 27 2000 - 02:00 AM WIB
The Navy unit and the Police unit in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, denied on Monday news reports that they had been involved in the smuggling of diesel fuel out of the country.
The local Kaltim Post daily quoted local navy spokesman Lt. Mar Dodi also as saying that it was difficult to prove and catch the smugglers.
He said that the fuel smugglers could only be caught if their tankers were truly moving toward the borders (with Malaysia).
"Frankly speaking I've seen no indication of fuel smuggling," Mar said.
Smuggling in the heavily subsidized diesel fuel had been reportedly rampant recently as the government planned to reduce the subsidy and raise fuel prices in October.
Fuel smuggling had also been reported to be the main cause of the recent fuel shortage in Samarinda.
The country's heavily subsidized fuel products particularly diesel fuel have often been smuggled to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
Meanwhile, Samarinda Police Chief Superintendent Husein Hamini also denied the involvement of the police in fuel smuggling. He said that the police was only securing the seaport area. He vowed to work hard to resolve the fuel smuggling problem, but adding that other institutions must also cooperate. (*)