KPK And AGO Asked To Investigate Allegations Of Concave Of Frozen Meat Import Quota

JAKARTA The chairman of the Justice Youth Association, Dendi Budiman, urged the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to intervene to investigate the alleged game (kongkalikong) of the frozen beef import quota involving a number of large importers.

Dendi highlighted the closed coordination meeting in Purwokerto, Central Java, in early October, which was said to be a place to regulate distribution routes and import quotas.

During the meeting, he said, business actors received a message that they were obliged to buy goods from PT Suri Nusantara Jaya (PT Suri) if they wanted to still get an import allotment.

"The message was not delivered directly, but in an intimidating tone. In essence, who does not participate in PT Suri's distribution channel will find it difficult to get the next import quota," said Dendi.

According to Dendi, information about the meeting strengthened the alleged systematic manipulation of the frozen meat import quota.

He considered that PT Suri was suspected of playing a dominant role in controlling national supply and frozen meat prices through its affiliated company networks in various regions.

The price of imported frozen beef has increased significantly in recent months. This increase is not only due to global factors, but because of the control of quotas by a handful of parties," he said.

Dendi said, from his investigation, a number of small distributors admitted that they were pressured to buy from PT Suri's network.

If they refuse, they lose access to imported supplies.

This pattern, he said, makes the market unhealthy and removes small business actors from the distribution chain.

Based on these findings, Dendi asked the KPK and the AGO, especially the Deputy Attorney General for Intelligence (Jamintel) to open an investigation into the alleged arrangement of the frozen beef import quota.

There are strong indications of collusion and abuse of authority in the process of determining the import quota. If this is allowed, the frozen meat market can be controlled by a handful of groups that determine the price from upstream to downstream," he said.

PT Suri Nusantara Jaya is known as one of the big players in the national frozen meat distribution business.

However, allegations of closed meetings and pressure on business actors made the public question the company's business transparency and ethics.

Dendi added that the alleged collusion should be an alarm for the government and law enforcement officials.

"The public is waiting for concrete steps from the KPK and the AGO to ensure that the quota for importing frozen beef is not used as a means of economic play that only benefits a handful of parties," he said.