Jakarta, Dec 20 (ANTARA) - Indonesia's second-largest Muslim
organization, Muhammadiyah, has urged the government and related parties
to stop the circulation of pork-tainted "bakso" (meatball) soup before
the issue creates a serious uproar and has a wider impact.
"We are concerned about the circulation of pork-contaminated bakso. The
government and other concerned parties need to take immediate steps to
prevent an escalation of the situation and to neutralize its negative
impact on the public," Din Syamsuddin, chairman of Muhammadiyah, said
here on Wednesday.
He pointed out that if the issue is not resolved immediately, it will
create widespread public unrest. The people will not consume bakso, and
it will harm the interests of thousands of small traders who earn a
living on the popular side dish.
Made of beef mixed with tapioca flour, bakso is a popular side dish in
Indonesia, which is predominantly populated by Muslims. However, Muslims
are not permitted to consume pork, according to Islamic law.
"It will harm the interests of small traders who have to earn a living
for their families by selling bakso," noted Din Syamsuddin.
Din Syamsuddin, who chairs the 28-million-member Muslim Muhammadiyah
organization, made the statement following another finding last week of
pork-contaminated bakso being sold to the public in West Jakarta.
The finding in West Jakarta followed previous cases where
pork-contaminated bakso was also found in Cipete, South Jakarta, and in
Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.
Head of West Jakarta Animal Husbandry and Fishery Service Eviati
commented on Friday that her office had found pork-tainted bakso in
samples taken from a number of places.
"We took 34 samples and conducted a laboratory test. We found three bakso balls, which contained pork," she said.
The animal husbandry service official stated that her office had taken
the samples from six traditional markets in West Jakarta. "The samples
came from the Pasar Kopro, Pasar Kemiri, Pasar Duta Mas, Pasar Puri, and
Pasar Grogol markets and from a bakso home industry in the Kapuk area
in Cengkareng," Eviati remarked.
The meatballs containing pork were taken from three traders. "The
traders in the Pasar Kopro, Grogol, and Puri markets sold the meatball
to the public in their kiosks without packing it," Eviati added.
She said it is difficult to recognize the difference between pork bakso
and beef bakso. "They have almost the same color. Physically, it is
difficult to differentiate. If the meatball is fully pork, it usually
has a whitish colour," she pointed out.
The large price margin could have been one reason why producers mixed
the beef with pork. "Pork bakso is usually sold at a cheaper price than
the beef. It is about Rp300 to 1,500 each, depending on its size. The
price of beef bakso is usually Rp1,000 each, at minimum," she stated.
In South Jakarta, samples of bakso containing pork were found in the
Cipete area. It was believed that the distribution of minced pork to
traders took place in three sub-districts in South Jakarta's areas of
Kebayoran Baru, Kebayoran Lama, and Cilandak.
"We took 46 samples in 10 districts in South Jakarta and found that
bakso in three districts were mixed with minced pork," Agung Priambodo,
head of the husbandry and fishery service of South Jakarta, said.
He noted that the pork-tainted bakso meatballs were found in five
locations in the three sub-districts. "Laboratory tests of samples from
other sub-districts showed negative results," asserted Agung. He
suspected that minced-pork dealers in these areas had capitalized on
bakso traders to sell their products.
Earlier, on Wednesday (Dec. 12), security officers from the Jakarta
Metropolitan Police and South Jakarta Husbandry and Fishery Service
officials raided a kiosk that was used to mince pork in the Cipete area.
Police confiscated 50 kilograms of pork and 15 kilograms of minced pork
that had been kept in cold storage. Witnesses questioned by the police
said most of the consumers of the pork-mincing home industry were bakso
traders.
The business had been running for about two years. It was suspected
that the pork-mincing factory owner had sold the minced pork at Rp40,000
per kilogram, or about 50 percent lower than the price of beef.
Police investigators later named a suspect¿Eka Prayitno (22), owner of
the pork-mincing factory. "The suspect has distributed to bakso traders a
mixture of minced pork and chicken," Jakarta Metropolitan Police
Spokesman Senior Commissioner Rikwanto said.
He pointed out that the raid on Eka's business began when the Jakarta
police officers and officials from the South Jakarta Husbandry Service
conducted a food-order operation on Wednesday, Dec. 12, when officers
found the meat-mincing factory, which processed pork and chicken meat as
ingredients for the production of bakso.
In connection with the finding, Muhammadiyah Chairman Din Syamsuddin
called on all bakso producers to take speedy action in testing samples
of their products in cooperation with the Food and Drug Supervisory
Agency (BPOM) and other related institutions. This move is to ensure
that the meat distributed to bakso traders is free from pork-tainted
material.
"In this way, this issue, which could create unrest and may harm the
interests of small traders and other people, can be handled," noted Din
Syamsuddin.
The Indonesian Consumers Institute Foundation (YLKI) has also called on
police to take firm action against the perpetrators of the pork-tainted
bakso fiasco. This issue has created an uproar and has led to unrest
among the people and bakso traders.
YLKI chairman Tulus Abadi said police and the trade services were
responsible for handling the crime committed by the perpetrators of the
pork-tainted bakso distribution that had cheated consumers.
In the meantime, the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) assured the people
on Wednesday that products with ¿halal¿ (allowed by Islamic law)
labels, which had not yet expired, were free from pork contamination.
"We have conducted verification tests and found that products, which
have been certified with halal labels, are free from pork," Ma'ruf Amin,
the MUI chairman, told a press conference on Wednesday.
He said that MUI has always maintained control over its certified
products and has conducted impromptu inspections at a number of places.
This is important to ensure halal products are available in a country
with a population of more than 237.6 million, of which, more than 90
percent are Muslim.
After all, pork-tainted bakso has also been found outside Java in Samarinda, East Kalimantan.
The East Kalimantan chapter of the Islamic Liberation Front (FPI) has
urged police to arrest the distributors of pork bakso in the region.
"We urge police to quickly arrest the sellers of pork bakso, or we will
conduct a raid ourselves," Habib Fauzi, the legal council chairman of
FPI for East Kalimantan stressed. ***3***
(T.A014/INE/o001)
(T.A014/A/KR-BSR/O001) 20-12-2012 15:11 |
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar