Minggu, 24 Mei 2015

PEOPLE ASKED TO REMAIN CALM OVER SYNTHETIC RICE ISSUE

 By Andi Abdussalam
          Jakarta, May 24 (Antara) - While the law enforcing and other relevant agencies are still conducting investigations, the people are called on to remain calm over the circulation of rice suspected to have made of plastic substances.
        The appeal to people to remain calm was made by Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Saturday who said that the Indonesian people should not be overly worried about by the synthetic rice issue.
        "I don't know what the rice looks like and the motive behind its circulation. But I think the people should not be too worried," Kalla said at Sunda Kelapa Mosque in Jakarta on Saturday.
         He said that the government was giving careful attention to the issue, studying the causes why the synthetic rice was circulated in a number of regions. "I don't think it is a big problem. If it is based on an economic reason, why should it be using plastic materials?" he questioned.
         Early this week, the people in Bekasi District, West Java, were surprised by the issue of rice containing plastic substances sold at the local 'Mutiara Gading Timur' market.


         According to Mayor of Bekasi District Rahmat Effendi, the rice sample taken from the market positively contained plastic substances.
    The sample was taken from the market on Tuesday (May 19) and was tested by the Industry and Trade Office of Bekasi District at Sucofindo Laboratory, Cibitung, Bekasi District, he stated.

         The rice contained plastic substances synthetically made from polyvinyl, a chemical substance used to make plastic pipes.
         The authority took a sample of 250 grams of rice from a shop belonging to trader Sembiring after having previously received a complaint from Dewi Septiani (29), a resident of Mustikajaya Subdistrict, Bekasi.
         The Bekasi administration asked PT Sucofindo to conduct laboratory tests of samples of the synthetic rice. The results showed that it contained three kinds of phthalates---benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), and diisononyl phthalate (DINP)---that are materials used to make pipes.
         "Eating the rice is similar to consuming plastic materials used for making PVC pipes," Mayor Effendi affirmed on Thursday.
         However, the police will wait for the results of the laboratory test conducted by the Food and Drug Agency (BPOM) in the case of the distribution of "plastic" rice to assure the rice contained plastic materials, according to National Police Chief General Badroddin Haiti.
         "Investigation will wait for the results of the BPOM test," he stated on Saturday.
         If the case is confirmed, he added, the police will probe where the rice originated from. "If it is confirmed, we will investigate and find out where it came from, whether it was from home or abroad," Haiti affirmed, adding that the Jakarta police has already questioned several witnesses over the case.
         Brigadier General Yazid Fanani, a director of the National Police's Crime Investigation Department (Bareskrim), said that the samples have to be tested in accordance with the existing procedures.
         "The mechanisms with which the samples are collected and the laboratory tests are conducted have certain standard operating procedures. The test yesterday (May 21) was not conducted by investigators but by the regional administration (of Bekasi)," Fanani stated.
          Trade Minister Rahmat Gobel suspected that the alleged synthetic rice had been smuggled from China into Indonesia as the government had not issued a rice import permit. "We did not issue a rice import permit (this year). The fake rice must have been smuggled," he remarked.
         Therefore, Indonesia and China will cooperate to investigate the case. The representatives of the Indonesian and Chinese governments, in cooperation with the regional authority, plan to investigate the alleged Chinese synthetic rice found circulating in the Indonesian market.
         "Has the synthetic rice come from China? It is still uncertain, and therefore, we are waiting for the lab result to further address the matter," Indonesian Ambassador to China Soegeng Rahardjo stated in Beijing on Friday (May 22).
         The Indonesian Embassy's Trade Attaché Dandy Iswara noted that he will meet China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) in connection with the circulation of alleged Chinese synthetic rice in Indonesia.
         "Besides this, we will also discuss the efforts to track synthetic rice that has been circulated and exported to Indonesia," Dandy emphasized.
         It was reported earlier that local authorities were investigating the suspected circulation of synthetic rice. The case sparked widespread uproar following reports on the discovery of plastic substances in rice that caused nausea and dizziness among consumers in Bekasi, West Java
    The Bantargebang Police officers of Bekasi City closed a rice shop in Mutiara Gading Market in Mustikajaya, Bekasi, West Java, on Tuesday (May 19), for selling rice suspected to have been made of plastic substances.

         "We also detained the owner of the shop identified as Sembiring along with four of his workers to be examined as witnesses," Bantargebang Police Precinct Chief Commissioner Gatot Suyanto emphasized.
         Sembiring, the trader, confessed that he had procured the rice from a distributor in Karawang, West Java, at Rp8,000 per kilogram.
         The synthetic rice issue emerged when Dewi Septiani, a resident of Bekasi, West Java, reported and uploaded a photograph of the suspected synthetic rice on the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram.
         When she tried to cook the rice she bought from Sembiring at a market in Bekasi on May 13, she found anomalies as the rice was not cooking well and smelled different.
         "The rice looked different, as well. Original rice has streaks, whereas the synthetic one is plain," she pointed out.
         Several consumers complained of stomach ache and dizziness after consuming nasi uduk (rice cooked in coconut milk) allegedly made using the rice that was purchased from Sembiring.
    "Many of my customers complained of stomach ache and dizziness after consuming porridge and nasi uduk, which I made from the rice," Dewi Septiani (29), a nasi uduk trader in Bekasi, noted.

         In the meantime, the Ministry of Agriculture has assigned the Regional Food Security Authority (OKKPD) to monitor suspected circulation of fake rice in the regions and prepare itself to receive reports from the people who discover synthetic rice.
         "We have the OKKPDs at the regional level and are scattered in all provinces. We have coordinated to supervise the circulation of synthetic rice," Director General of Processing and Marketing of Agricultural Product Affairs Yusni Emilia Harahap said on Saturday.
         State-owned logistics board Perum Bulog meanwhile said that no synthetic rice had been found in its warehouses across the country.
         "We have instructed a check on more than 1,500 of Bulog's warehouses in the country. Thank God, there were no indications of synthetic rice there," Director of Business Development and Planning of Bulog Fajri Sentosa stated.***2***

(T.A014/f001  )

(T.A014/A/A. Abdussalam/F. Assegaf) 24-05-2015 11:23:1

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