DPR to Summons Trade Minister over CPO Exports, Cooking Oil Fiasco

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - House of Representatives (DPR) Commission VI announced that they will be summoning Trade Minister Mohammad Lutfi next week to clarify the suspect naming of one of the Trade Ministry's director generals in a case involving crude palm oil or CPO exports.

The Ministry's director-general of foreign trade was named a suspect and is suspected to have permitted the export of crude palm oil amidst the cooking oil scarcity in the country.

"Our initiative is to summon the Trade Minister next week. The exact schedule is being formulated," said Commission VI member Andre Rosiade on Friday, April 22.

Minister Lutfi, he said, will have to be able to provide an explanation on the issue regarding permits as at the same time the government initiated the domestic market obligation at the end of January.

During this period, palm oil companies must meet the 20 percent DMO before they can obtain export permits.

Andre stated that DPR will ask questions about the rising costs of staple commodities such as cooking oil, which is still happening ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Previously, the Attorney General's Office named four suspects for corruption in the provision of CPO facilities between January 2021 and March 2022.

The four suspects are the Director-General of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Trade Indrashari Wisnu Wardhana, President Commissioner of PT Wilmar Nabati Indonesia Master Parulian Tumanggor, Senior Manager Corporate Affair Permata Hijau Group Stanley MA, and Pierre Togar Sitanggang as General Manager at PT Musim Mas General Affairs Section. 

The three private companies where the suspects belong are established producers of packaged cooking oil in Indonesia. PT Wilmar has packaged cooking oil products under the brands Sania and Fortune. Musim Mas owns cooking oil under the SunCo brand. Meanwhile, Permata Hijau produces cooking oil with the trademark Parveen

The three suspects from this company allegedly communicated intensely with Indrasari to obtain export permits. A number of companies are suspected of obtaining permits, even though they do not meet the DMO requirements. This is what is alleged to be the root cause of the shortage of domestic cooking oil stocks and the price has skyrocketed to almost double.

According to Andre, the suspect naming surprised Commission VI members, as in a prior meeting between DPR and Trade Ministry, Wisnu whispered to the Trade Minister regarding the details of the cooking oil mafia case. 

Read: Labor Party Demands Trade Minister's Resignation Over Cooking Oil Fiasco

FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA