Police Examine 14 Witnesses Regarding Alleged PMI Blood Transfers To Tangerang

ILLUSTRATION/ The officer shows a bag filled with blood. AMONG

BANDA ACEH - The Banda Aceh Police have examined 14 internal and external witnesses from the Indonesian Red Cross administrators in Banda Aceh regarding the alleged blood shipment by the local PMI to Tangerang, Banten.

"There has been an addition of one so that there are 14 witnesses (who have been examined)," said Head of Criminal Investigation Unit of the Banda Aceh Police, Kompol M. Ryan Citra Yudha, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, June 14.

During the initial examination, the internal witnesses of PMI Banda Aceh who were questioned some time ago, namely the Secretary of PMI Banda Aceh, Syukran Aldiansyah and the Head of Social Health Services and Blood Donor Unit, dr. Natalina.

Then, said Ryan, currently the investigation of other elements from PMI Banda Aceh to PMI Aceh Province has been ongoing, including even from the Legal Bureau of the Aceh Secretariat.

Ryan said that his party has not reached any conclusions regarding this case because it is still in the investigation stage. There will still be requests for statements from other witnesses, he said.

"It's still an investigation, God willing, it will continue to develop for witnesses," said Ryan.

Previously, there were rumors that PMI Banda Aceh had sent 2,050 bags of blood to Tangerang, Banten. This delivery was deemed not to be in accordance with the procedure and without going through a plenary meeting of all local PMI management.

Based on their inspection results, 2,050 bags of blood were sent in January, February, and April 2022, while for March it has not been confirmed because they only got data from car track records.

Then, the replacement cost of blood processing (BPPD) is also not in accordance with government regulations. Based on the Permenkes related to BPPD, per bag is Rp. 360 thousand. However, delivery to Tangerang only costs Rp. 300 thousand per bag.

However, this allegation received a strong rebuttal from the Head of PMI Banda Aceh, Dedi Sumardi Nurdin, which eventually led to the investigation of the case by the local police.