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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