TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - One month and 14 days in prison is what the prosecutor asked for A Sia, a Pontianak businessman charged with smuggling 697,085 tons of sugar. If the judges agree, in just six weeks, A Sia will be released from prison. And the bet is that this 'sugar king' will undoubtedly go back to smuggling sugar. It is certainly a slap in the face for law enforcement officials.
The sentence demanded by West Kalimantan prosecutor Eggi Prabudi, is indeed excessively light, given the seriousness of A Sia's crime: violating Law No. 8/1999 on Consumer Protection, which calls for a maximum of five years in jail or a fine of Rp2 billion. Had the prosecutor been more serious in exercising his legal duty, A Sia would be charged with breaking Law No. 7/1996 on Food and sentenced to a maximum five years in prison or a fine of Rp10 billion.
The extra-light sentence given to A Sia has infuriated the Pontianak public and worried us all. It is not easy to nab such a criminal and seek the necessary proof of sugar smuggling, given the protection he gets from layers of local officials who regularly get bribe money. It is estimated that every month, at least 3,800 tons of sugar are smuggled from Malaysia through the border town of Entikong into West Kalimantan. Thousands of sacks filled with illegal sugar are carried by trucks across the border and sold in local markets, stamped by19 distributors registered with the West Kalimantan trade office. The limited supply of sugar is the main impetus to the continuing importation. In 2011, sugar imports reached 2.4 million tons, an increase of 41.1 percent compared to imports in 2010, which was only 1.7 million tons. The national consumption of sugar continues to rise, so sugar imports this year are estimated to reach 3 million tons.
The A Sia case reflects the chaotic management of the sugar industry in this country. The smuggling is the effect of the wide gap between demand and the capacity of the national industry to supply the sugar.
The sweet business of illegal sugar imports has become even more lucrative given the price difference in the markets. The A Sia case indicates that businessmen earn Rp2,000 profit for every kilogram of illegal sugar sold in Pontianak, earning a net profit of Rp176 billion in just four months.
And this case is merely the tip of the iceberg, as many more cases remain unexposed.
Besides the halfhearted enforcement of the law, national sugar production is admittedly declining. Indonesia has long lost its reputation as the world's biggest sugar exporter, second only to Cuba. In 1929, during the Dutch colonial days, there were 180 sugar plants around the country and some 200,000 hectares of cane plantations. After the war of independence, only 55 sugar plants remained.
Since independence, no significant recultivation has been done to revive the sugar industry. We now have only 62 sugar factories, most of which are state-owned. Older ones at least 50 years old have made the sugar production chain ineffective. There have been mistakes in fertilizing the canes, in their processing and in continuing to use fuel-intensive machines. As a result, the sugar industry has failed to make the economy of scale.
Importing seems to have been the easy way to solve the problem, although the government should have taken a more comprehensive step. Reforming the sugar industry, revitalizing factories and providing incentives to sugarcane farmers is an agenda that can no longer be delayed.
Reforms in the sugar industry must be concurrent with serious law enforcement. The judges must sentence A Sia to the maximum penalty and not the prosecutor's trifling version, if it is to have a comprehensive and lasting impact. (*)
